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| Al-Hilli murder inquiry: French police make arrest in Alps massacre case | Al-Hilli murder inquiry: French police make arrest in Alps massacre case |
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| French police have arrested a 48-year-old man in connection with the murder of a British family in the Alps. | French police have arrested a 48-year-old man in connection with the murder of a British family in the Alps. |
| Saad al-Hilli, 50, was killed alongside his wife and mother-in-law near the village of Chevaline in the Haute Savoie last year. The body of local cyclist, Sylvain Mollier, 45, lay nearby. | Saad al-Hilli, 50, was killed alongside his wife and mother-in-law near the village of Chevaline in the Haute Savoie last year. The body of local cyclist, Sylvain Mollier, 45, lay nearby. |
| The two Al-Hilli children were also at the scene but survived the attack. Saad’s seven-year-old daughter was pistol-whipped during the attack and her four-year-old-sister hide under the skirt of her dead mother for nearly eight hours. | The two Al-Hilli children were also at the scene but survived the attack. Saad’s seven-year-old daughter was pistol-whipped during the attack and her four-year-old-sister hide under the skirt of her dead mother for nearly eight hours. |
| Today Surrey Police confirmed: "Surrey Police can confirm that an arrest has been made in France today in connection with the murders of four people near Annecy, southern France in September 2012. | Today Surrey Police confirmed: "Surrey Police can confirm that an arrest has been made in France today in connection with the murders of four people near Annecy, southern France in September 2012. |
| "The arrest has resulted from a line of inquiry in France and is not as a result of the investigation carried out in the UK." | "The arrest has resulted from a line of inquiry in France and is not as a result of the investigation carried out in the UK." |
| Eric Maillaud, the local prosecutor told AFP: "This arrest, which may not be the only one, was the result of witness statements after the broadcast of a photo-fit image on November 4, 2013." | |
| "For the moment it is impossible to say whether he played any role in the shooting. It is simply the result of the release of the photofit but it is strictly impossible to say any more at this stage. It could turn out that he has absolutely nothing to do with this affair. He is of French nationality and he lives in the Annecy area," he said. | |
| Last month Mr al-Hilli's brother Zaid al-Hilli, who was also arrested in connection with the shooting, had his bail cancelled by Surrey Police after the force deemed there was not enough evidence to charge him with a crime. | |
| The 54-year-old, from Chessington, Surrey, said he was "relieved", but French investigators said they still had "many questions" to ask him. | |
| Since the deaths, speculation has surrounded whether the shooting was linked to the al-Hillis' native Iraq, or Saad al-Hilli's work as a satellite engineer. | |
| Annecy prosecutor Eric Maillaud previously said that police in France were still looking for a motorcyclist seen riding in the area between 3.15pm and 3.40pm shortly before the four murders took place, and a BMW 4x4 also seen there. | |
| The horrific murder scene was discovered by cyclist Brett Martin, who found Iraqi-born Mr al-Hilli, 50, his 47-year-old dentist wife and her elderly mother blasted to death in their BMW. | |
| The al-Hillis' first-born daughter Zainab was shot in the shoulder and beaten, but survived. Her then four-year-old sister Zeena lay hidden under her mother's body and was only discovered eight hours after the murders. | |
| The al-Hilli brothers were alleged to have been locked in an inheritance dispute centred on the £825,000 home in Claygate where Saad and his family lived after their mother died from a heart attack in 2003. | |
| Zaid, who inherited half the property, claimed that in 2011 his brother began to demand his share of the house "there and then" and pinned him down during a row. | |
| The two men never spoke again except through lawyers, but Zaid denied rumours that he had threatened to kill his brother. |