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“...'Japan Earthquake' and 'accidents' that occurred March 11, 2011,
were deliberate acts of tectonic nuclear warfare...."
.........Leuren Moret  an expert witness at the International Criminal Tribunal For Afghanistan At Tokyo. 

Click on the below link for more on this subject
http://inlnews.com/JapaneseEarthquakeDebate.html 


High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program HAARP

described on the HAARP Website as a Premier Facility for the Study of  Ionosperic Physics and Radio Science
Questions of a technical nature may be submitted via e-mail to: 

Could The HAARP Project
Be For Mind Control?

Click on the below link for more on this subject
http://inlnews.com/JapaneseEarthquakeDebate.html  

Documents show U.S. covered up Stalin's massacre

Documents released Sept. 10 and seen in advance by The Associated Press lend weight to the belief that suppression within the highest levels of the U.S. government helped cover up Soviet guilt in the killing of some 22,000 Polish officers and other prisoners in the Katyn forest and other locations in 1940.

 In this Friday, Sept. 7, 2012 photo, Franciszek Herzog looks at photographs of his father at his home in Hebron, Conn. Herzog's father and uncle both died in the massacres. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill



In this Friday, Sept. 7, 2012 photo, Franciszek Herzog looks at photographs of his father at his home in Hebron, Conn. Herzog's father and uncle both died in the massacres. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)



This 1938 photo provided by the family shows Franciszek Herzog. Herzog died in the massacres. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Herzog Family)


A memorial to the victims of Katyn, the Soviet massacre of 22,000 Polish officers in 1940, in Warsaw, Poland pictured on Monday, Sept. 10, 2012. On Monday the U.S. National Archives is releasing about 1,000 newly declassified documents related to Katyn. Some shed further light on decades of suppression of Soviet guilt within the U.S. government. The cover-up began during World War II when the U.S. needed the Soviets to defeat Germany and Japan, and continued on some level long after. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski


 
In this Friday, Sept. 7, 2012 photo, Franciszek Herzog looks at photographs of his father at his home in Hebron, Conn. Documents released Monday, Sept. 10, 2012, and seen in advance by The Associated Press lend further weight to the belief that sabotage within the highest levels of U.S. government helped cover up Soviet guilt in the killing of some 22,000 Polish officers and other prisoners in the Katyn Forest and other locations in 1940. Herzog's father and uncle both died in the massacres. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

In this Friday, Sept. 7, 2012 photo, Franciszek Herzog looks at photographs of his father at his home in Hebron, Conn. Documents released Monday, Sept. 10, 2012, and seen in advance by The Associated Press …


WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The American POWs sent secret coded messages to Washington with news of a Soviet atrocity: In 1943 they saw rows of corpses in an advanced state of decay in the Katyn forest, on the western edge of Russia, proof that the killers could not have been the Nazis who had only recently occupied the area.

The testimony about the infamous massacre of Polish officers might have lessened the tragic fate that befell Poland under the Soviets, some scholars believe. Instead, it mysteriously vanished into the heart of American power. The long-held suspicion is that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt didn't want to anger Josef Stalin, an ally whom the Americans were counting on to defeat Germany and Japan during World War II.

Documents released Monday and seen in advance by The Associated Press lend weight to the belief that suppression within the highest levels of the U.S. government helped cover up Soviet guilt in the killing of some 22,000 Polish officers and other prisoners in the Katyn forest and other locations in 1940.

The evidence is among about 1,000 pages of newly declassified documents that the United States National Archives released and is putting online. Ohio Rep. Marcy Kaptur, who helped lead a recent push for the release of the documents, called the effort's success Monday a "momentous occasion" in an attempt to "make history whole."

Historians who saw the material days before the official release describe it as important and shared some highlights with the AP. The most dramatic revelation so far is the evidence of the secret codes sent by the two American POWs — something historians were unaware of and which adds to evidence that the Roosevelt administration knew of the Soviet atrocity relatively early on.

The declassified documents also show the United States maintaining that it couldn't conclusively determine guilt until a Russian admission in 1990 — a statement that looks improbable given the huge body of evidence of Soviet guilt that had already emerged decades earlier. Historians say the new material helps to flesh out the story of what the U.S. knew and when.

The Soviet secret police killed the 22,000 Poles with shots to the back of the head. Their aim was to eliminate a military and intellectual elite that would have put up stiff resistance to Soviet control. The men were among Poland's most accomplished — officers and reserve officers who in their civilian lives worked as doctors, lawyers, teachers, or as other professionals. Their loss has proven an enduring wound to the Polish nation.

[Slideshow: Color photos from inside Hitler's home]

In the early years after the war, outrage by some American officials over the concealment inspired the creation of a special U.S. Congressional committee to investigate Katyn.

In a final report released in 1952, the committee declared there was no doubt of Soviet guilt, and called the massacre "one of the most barbarous international crimes in world history." It found that Roosevelt's administration suppressed public knowledge of the crime, but said it was out of military necessity. It also recommended the government bring charges against the Soviets at an international tribunal — something never acted upon.

Despite the committee's strong conclusions, the White House maintained its silence on Katyn for decades, showing an unwillingness to focus on an issue that would have added to political tensions with the Soviets during the Cold War.

___

It was May 1943 in the Katyn forest, a part of Russia the Germans had seized from the Soviets in 1941. A group of American and British POWs were taken against their will by their German captors to witness a horrifying scene at a clearing surrounded by pine trees: mass graves tightly packed with thousands of partly mummified corpses in well-tailored Polish officers uniforms.

The Americans — Capt. Donald B. Stewart and Lt. Col. John H. Van Vliet Jr. — hated the Nazis and didn't want to believe the Germans. They had seen German cruelty up close, and the Soviets, after all, were their ally. The Germans were hoping to use the POWs for propaganda, and to drive a wedge between the Soviet Union and its Western Allies.

But returning to their POW camps, the Americans carried a conviction that they had just witnessed overwhelming proof of Soviet guilt. The corpses' advanced state of decay told them the killings took place much earlier in the war, when the Soviets still controlled the area. They also saw Polish letters, diaries, identification tags, news clippings and other objects — none dated later than spring of 1940 — pulled from the graves. The evidence that did the most to convince them was the good state of the men's boots and clothing: That told them the men had not lived long after being captured.

Stewart testified before the 1951 Congressional committee about what he saw, and Van Vliet wrote reports on Katyn in 1945 and 1950, the first of which mysteriously disappeared. But the newly declassified documents show that both sent secret encoded messages while still in captivity to army intelligence with their opinion of Soviet culpability. It's an important revelation because it shows the Roosevelt administration was getting information early on from credible U.S. sources of Soviet guilt — yet still ignored it for the sake of the alliance with Stalin.

One shows head of Army intelligence, Gen. Clayton Bissell, confirming that some months after the 1943 visit to Katyn by the U.S. officers, a coded request by MIS-X, a unit of military intelligence, was sent to Van Vliet requesting him "to state his opinion of Katyn." Bissell's note said that "it is also understood Col. Van Vliet & Capt. Stewart replied."

MIS-X was devoted to helping POWs held behind German lines escape; it also used the prisoners to gather intelligence.

A statement from Stewart dated 1950 confirms he received and sent coded messages to Washington during the war, including one on Katyn: "Content of my report was aprx (approximately): German claims regarding Katyn substantially correct in opinion of Van Vliet and myself."

The newly uncovered documents also show Stewart was ordered in 1950 — soon before the Congressional committee began its work — never to speak about a secret message on Katyn.

Krystyna Piorkowska, author of the recently published book "English-Speaking Witnesses to Katyn: Recent Research," discovered the documents related to the coded messages more than a week ago. She was one of several researchers who saw the material ahead of the public release.

She had already determined in her research that Van Vliet and Stewart were "code users" who had gotten messages out about other matters. But this is the first discovery of them communicating about Katyn, she said.

Another Katyn expert aware of the documents, Allen Paul, author of "Katyn: Stalin's Massacre and the Triumph of Truth," told the AP the find is "potentially explosive." He said the material does not appear in the record of the Congressional hearings in 1951-52, and appears to have also been suppressed.

He argues that the U.S. cover-up delayed a full understanding in the United States of the true nature of Stalinism — an understanding that came only later, after the Soviets exploded an atomic bomb in 1949 and after Poland and the rest of Eastern Europe were already behind the Iron Curtain.

"The Poles had known long before the war ended what Stalin's true intentions were," Paul said. "The West's refusal to hear them out on the Katyn issue was a crushing blow that made their fate worse."

The historical record carries other evidence Roosevelt knew in 1943 of Soviet guilt. One of the most important messages that landed on FDR's desk was an extensive and detailed report British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sent him. Written by the British ambassador to the Polish government-in-exile in London, Owen O'Malley, it pointed to Soviet guilt at Katyn.

"There is now available a good deal of negative evidence," O'Malley wrote, "the cumulative effect of which is to throw serious doubt on Russian disclaimers of responsibility for the massacre."

___

It wasn't until the waning days of Soviet hegemony over Eastern Europe that reformist leader Mikhail Gorbachev publicly admitted to Soviet guilt at Katyn, a key step in Polish-Russian reconciliation.

The silence by the U.S. government has been a source of deep frustration for many Polish-Americans. One is Franciszek Herzog, 81, a Connecticut man whose father and uncle died in the massacre. After Gorbachev's 1990 admission, he was hoping for more openness from the U.S. as well and made three attempts to obtain an apology from President George H.W. Bush.

"It will not resurrect the men," he wrote to Bush. "But will give moral satisfaction to the widows and orphans of the victims."

A reply he got in 1992, from the State Department, did not satisfy him. His correspondence with the government is also among the newly released documents and was obtained early by the AP from the George Bush Presidential Library.

The letter, dated Aug. 12, 1992, and signed by Thomas Gerth, then deputy director of the Office of Eastern European Affairs, shows the government stating that it lacked irrefutable evidence until Gorbachev's admission:

"The U.S. government never accepted the Soviet Government's claim that it was not responsible for the massacre. However, at the time of the Congressional hearings in 1951-1952, the U.S. did not possess the facts that could clearly refute the Soviets' allegations that these crimes were committed by the Third Reich. These facts, as you know, were not revealed until 1990, when the Russians officially apologized to Poland."

Herzog expressed frustration at that reply.

"There's a big difference between not knowing and not wanting to know," Herzog said. "I believe the U.S. government didn't want to know because it was inconvenient to them."

___http://news.yahoo.com/ap-exclusive-memos-show-us-hushed-soviet-crime-132109652.html?_esi=1 

National Archives page on Katyn: http://www.archives.gov/research/foreign-policy/katyn-massacre/




Chris Stevens, U.S. ambassador to Libya killed in rocket attack, served as envoy during revolution

By Dylan Stableford, Yahoo! News | The Lookout 





Click image for more photos.

Chris Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya killed along with three others in a rocket attack outside the American Consulate in Benghazi was "a courageous and exemplary representative of the United States," President Barack Obama said in his initial statement Wednesday condemning the attack.

Initial reports said the slain embassy staffers—who also include foreign service information management officer Sean Smith—were trying to flee the consulate building when they were fired upon by protesters apparently angry over a film they say insults Prophet Muhammad.

However, U.S. officials told The New York Times and CNN on Wednesday that the attack may have been planned by a group that "had either been waiting for an opportunity to exploit like the protests over the video or perhaps even generated the protests as a cover for their attack."

[Also read: President Obama's statement on attack in Benghazi]

According to the Associated Press, a Libyan doctor who treated Stevens said the diplomat died of severe asphyxiation from smoke inhalation and that he tried for 90 minutes to revive him.

Stevens, 52, was the first U.S. ambassador killed in the line of duty since 1979, when Adolph Dubs, U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, was gunned down in a kidnapping attempt.

"Throughout the Libyan revolution, [Stevens] selflessly served our country and the Libyan people at our mission in Benghazi," Obama said. "As ambassador in Tripoli, he has supported Libya's transition to democracy. His legacy will endure wherever human beings reach for liberty and justice. I am profoundly grateful for his service to my administration, and deeply saddened by this loss."

Stevens, a California native and U.C.-Berkeley grad, was a 21-year veteran of foreign service, the White House said.

"I had the privilege of swearing in Chris for his post in Libya only a few months ago," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a separate statement. "He spoke eloquently about his passion for service, for diplomacy and for the Libyan people. This assignment was only the latest in his more than two decades of dedication to advancing closer ties with the people of the Middle East and North Africa.

[Related: 'Innocence of Muslims': The film that sparked deadly U.S. Embassy attacks]

"As the conflict in Libya unfolded, Chris was one of the first Americans on the ground in Benghazi," Clinton continued. "He risked his own life to lend the Libyan people a helping hand to build the foundation for a new, free nation. He spent every day since helping to finish the work that he started. Chris was committed to advancing America's values and interests, even when that meant putting himself in danger."

In response to the attack, the United States is "deploying elite Marine counterterrorism teams to Libya," Foreign Policy reports. The Pentagon is sending Fleet Anti-Terrorism Teams, or FAST teams, a U.S. defense official told the magazine.

"It's especially tragic because Chris Stevens died in Benghazi because it is a city he fought to save," Obama said later Wednesday morning in hastily arranged public remarks in the Rose Garden of the White House.

Speaking at an impromptu press conference in Jacksonville, Fla., on Wednesday, Mitt Romneycondemned Tuesday's attacks as "disgusting" and "outrageous," but he also attacked the Obama administration for standing by a statement issued by the U.S. Embassy in Cairo that he claimed was an "apology" for American values.

[Related: Romney attacks Obama for sending 'mixed signals' on Middle East violence]

Late Tuesday, Romney issued a statement saying it was "disgraceful that the Obama administration's first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks." On Wednesday, he stood by his criticism of the White House.

Here's Stevens' bio from the U.S. Embassy website:

Ambassador Chris Stevens considers himself fortunate to participate in this incredible period of change and hope for Libya. As the President's representative, his job is to develop a strong, mutually beneficial relationship between the United States and Libya. Ambassador Stevens was the American representative to the Transitional National Council in Benghazi during the revolution.

When he's not meeting with government officials or foreign diplomats, you can find Ambassador Stevens meeting with Libyan academics, business people, and civil society activists, exploring Libya's rich archaeological sites, and enjoying Libya's varied cuisine.

After several diplomatic assignments in the Middle East and North Africa, Ambassador Stevens understands and speaks Arabic and French. He likes the Facebook page of the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli and hopes you will, too.

"I had the honor to serve as the U.S. envoy to the Libyan opposition during the revolution," Stevenssaid in May in a video introducing himself to the Libyan people as the new U.S. ambassador there. "And I was thrilled to watch the Libyan people stand up and demand their rights.

[Slideshow: Gunmen storm U.S. consulate in Libya]

"Growing up in California I didn't know much about the Arab world," Stevens continued. "I traveled to North Africa as a Peace Corps volunteer, worked as an English teacher in a town in the high Atlas mountains in Morocco for two years and quickly grew to love this part of the world.

"We know Libya is still recovering from an intense period of conflict," he added. "There are many courageous Libyans who wear the scars of that battle."

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks at the State Department in Washington Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2012, on the recent deaths of Americans in Libya. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton …


Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton listens as President Barack Obama speaks on the death of U.S.
ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens, Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2012, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington.  (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton …


Obama: 'Justice will be done' for Americans killed in Libya

Obama: 'Justice will be done' for Americans …


U.S. Republican presidential nominee and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney makes remarks on the attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya in  Jacksonville, Florida

U.S. Republican presidential nominee …


Obama: U.S. condemns Libya consulate attack

Obama: U.S. condemns Libya consulate …


Romney stands by Obama criticism on Libya

Romney stands by Obama criticism on …




US Ambassador to Libya killed in consulate attack

US Ambassador to Libya killed in consulate …



U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton walk back to the Oval Office after a statement following the death of the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, and others, in the Rose Garden of the
White House in Washington

U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary

FILE - U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens stands in the lobby of the Tibesty Hotel where an African Union delegation was meeting with opposition leaders in Benghazi, Libya in this April 11, 2011 file photo. Libyan officials say the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans have been killed in an attack on the U.S. consulate in the eastern city of Benghazi by protesters angry over a film that ridiculed Islam's Prophet Muhammad. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)

FILE - U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens …


U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton walk back to the Oval Office after a statement following the death of the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, and others, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington

U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary …


U.S. President Barack Obama delivers a statement following the death of the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington

U.S. President Barack Obama delivers …

FILE - In this Monday, April 11, 2011 file photo, U.S. envoy Chris Stevens stands in the lobby of the Tibesty Hotel where an African Union delegation was meeting with opposition leaders in Benghazi, Libya. Libyan officials say the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans have been killed in an attack on the U.S. consulate in the eastern city of Benghazi by protesters angry over a film that ridiculed Islam's Prophet Muhammad. The officials say Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed Tuesday night when he and a group of embassy employees
went to the consulate to try to evacuate staff. The protesters were firing gunshots and rocket propelled grenades.(AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)

FILE - In this Monday, April 11, 2011 …

FILE - In this Monday, April 11, 2011 file photo, U.S. envoy Chris Stevens, center, accompanied by British envoy Christopher Prentice, left, speaks to Council member for Misrata Dr. Suleiman Fortia, right, at the Tibesty Hotel where an African Union delegation was meeting with opposition leaders in Benghazi, Libya. Libyan officials say the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans have been killed in an attack on the U.S. consulate in the eastern
city of Benghazi by protesters angry over a film that ridiculed Islam's Prophet Muhammad. The officials say Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed Tuesday night when he and a group of embassy employees went to the consulate to try to evacuate staff. The protesters were firing gunshots and rocket propelled grenades. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)

FILE - In this Monday, April 11, 2011 …


FILE - In this Monday, April 11, 2011 file photo, U.S. envoy Chris Stevens speaks to local media at the
Tibesty Hotel where an African Union delegation was meeting with opposition leaders in Benghazi, Libya. Libyan officials say the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans have been killed in an attack on the U.S. consulate in the eastern city of Benghazi by protesters angry over a film that ridiculed Islam's Prophet Muhammad. The officials say Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed Tuesday night when he and a group of embassy employees went to the consulate to try to evacuate staff. The protesters were firing gunshots and rocket propelled grenades.(AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)

FILE - In this Monday, April 11, 2011 …

U.S. envoy Chris Stevens listens during a news conference held by leaders of Libya's rebel leadership after talks with representatives of the African Union in Benghazi April 11, 2011.

U.S. envoy Chris Stevens listens during …

Hillary Clinton: Chris Stevens' Death 'Should Shock'

Hillary Clinton: Chris Stevens' Death …


Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya, smiles at his home in Tripoli

Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador …


U.S. Republican presidential nominee and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney listens to questions on the attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya, in Jacksonville

U.S. Republican presidential nominee …




Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney makes comments on the killing of U.S. embassy officials in Benghazi, Libya, while speaking in Jacksonville, Fla.,  Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Republican presidential candidate, former …


Obama orders flags to half-staff after Benghazi attack

 

President Barack Obama on Wednesday ordered American flags flying above government buildings, military vessels and posts around the world be flown at half-staff until sunset on September 16 "as a mark of respect" for the victims of the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Obama announced the order in a presidential proclamation a few hours after he appeared in the Rose Garden of the White House tocondemn the "outrageous and shocking attack"that claimed the lives of the U.S. ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, and three other Americans.

Mitt Romney has criticized Obama's response to that assault as well as to an incident in which demonstrators stormed the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and tore down the American flag.

A protester reacts as the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi is seen in flames. (Esam Al-Fetori/Reuters)

U.S. officials believe Libya attack was planned: Report

 

The deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya may have been a planned operation and not a spontaneous protest that turned violent, U.S. officials told the New York Times and CNN on Wednesday. Initial reports suggested that protesters in Benghazi, Libya, were angry about an online video that mocked the Muslim Prophet Muhammad, and then attacked the consulate, killing U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other foreign service workers. But now, according to the New York Times, officials suspect that "an organized group had either been waiting for an opportunity to exploit like the protests over the video or perhaps even generated the protests as a cover for their attack." U.S. sources told CNN that they don't think Stevens was a specific target of the attack.

U.S. officials also told the New York Times that they still believe the protest in Cairo, where rioters scaled the U.S. Embassy's walls and destroyed the American flag, was an unorganized mob angry over the video.




MORE FROM YAHOO! NEWS

FAA: Frozen waste from plane not cause of large holes in roofs

 

A pair of Long Island, N.Y., residents woke to a noise that sounded like something crashing through their house early Sunday.

"We both woke up to a very loud bang. I looked around—no breeze, no rain, nothing," homeowner Lois Farella told CBS Local New York as she pointed to a basketball-sized hole in her roof.

Next door, Ann Grace's roof on Home Street was also ripped apart.

"It's a very huge hole. It did a lot of damage through heavy wood. I can't imagine if it hit a person," Grace told the TV station.

Upon inspection Grace's roofer found a brown, wet stain in her attic where something had ripped through an inch and a half of shingles and wood.

"It's hard to understand what could have done this. It had to have come from a plane," roofer Bryan Lanzello told CBS Local New York. "A bird couldn't have done it."

So the FAA investigated the incident as possibly involving blue ice.

"Blue ice" is a euphemism for the mixture of frozen human waste and industrial-strength chemical that occasionally drops from planes' waste tanks.

Waste shouldn't be released from an airliner during flight. However, a faulty waste tank can come open, causing the leakage to freeze at high altitudes on the exterior of the airplane, Life's Little Mysteries explains.

As the plane starts to descend, the frozen chunk begins to warm and can drop from the aircraft.

FAA Eastern Region office spokeswoman Arlene Salac told Life's Little Mysteries, "If it's a large enough chunk of it, it falls off down to the ground. It does definitely occur."

But in this case she says blue ice is not to blame.

"Inspectors went out there today and it doesn't appear from the information we have at this point to be a case of blue ice," she said. "Whenever we have these cases we pull the radar tracks over the residents and there weren't any aircraft going over that house at that time. The closest one was 3 miles away, so it's not a case of blue ice, but we don't know what happened to the house."

It's not from a bird. It's not from a plane.

It's still a mystery.

MORE FROM YAHOO! NEWS






Alps Shootings: Police Talk To Older Daughter

Sky News 
A seven-year-old girl whose parents were shot dead in the French Alps has spoken to investigators - as police in the UK used power tools in an effort to access a safe at her family home.
Zainab al Hilli was shot and so violently beaten during the attack in Chevaline, near Lake Annecy, that doctors had placed her in a medically induced coma.
But sources close to the investigation said she had since regained consciousness and was able to hold a brief discussion with officers in France.
Investigators see her as a key witness to the shooting spree in the remote car park that left her parents and grandmother dead a few days before the scheduled end of their family holiday.
Mechanical design engineer Saad al Hilli, 50, was killed in the family car alongside his dentist wife Iqbal, 47, her mother and Sylvain Mollier, 45, a French cyclist who apparently stumbled across the shooting.
Zainab's younger sister Zeena, four, who survived by cowering behind her mother, has flown back to Britain with carers.
While she is unable to shed much light on the murders, French police believe Zainab could provide them with crucial details to help piece together what happened.
A source said: "They have been able to speak to her but this was just an initial meeting. They could not go into any detail and the child was very tired. It was not permitted for the discussion to go any further."
Police must now wait for approval from medics before they can speak to the girl in more length, when she is expected to be asked about her memories of the attack.
Her sister Zeena returned to Britain after two relatives, understood to be an aunt and uncle, flew out to France. She is under the care of the authorities and social services.
It is as yet unclear who will take custody of the two orphaned children.
The news came as Sky sources revealed police had taken power tools to Mr al Hilli's home in Claygate, Surrey, to try and open a safe.
An Army bomb disposal unit had earlier left the house and lifted a cordon around the area. Police had closed two roads outside due to "concerns" about items found in the house.
Aerial pictures showed the Royal Logistic Corps bomb squad's investigation appeared to have been focused on a workshop
 at the bottom of the garden.
Officers later said the items were not hazardous and neighbours could return to their homes.
French police say they believe the killings were the work of one gunman.
They found 25 spent bullets at the scene, which had led to speculation there was more than one attacker.
But the single weapon used was a 7.65mm automatic pistol, according to a source close to the investigation quoted by AFP.
Each of the four victims was shot twice in the head. Nearby witnesses said they did not hear shots, meaning a silencer was probably used.
Sky's defence and security editor Sam Kiley said the fact only one gun was used meant the "cold and calculating" killer had an "extremely high level of training".
French police officer Benoit Vinneman earlier told reporters the crime scene was being re-examined, and it would be wrong to focus on the theory of an "ordered execution".
"Is this the work of a crazy person? Was the family the real target? Only work based on complete information can help us to see things clearly," he said.
A French builder, thought to be one of the last people to see the British family alive, said they had arrived at the isolated car park at least an hour before they were killed.
Laurent Fillion-Robin, 38, also said there was no sign of any vehicle following their red BMW and he did not hear any shots.
Two mobile phones discovered in the car are being examined by detectives.
A close friend of Iraqi-born Mr al Hilli told Sky that the father of two had been worried about security and had hid important documents before he left for France on holiday. 

Alps victims killed by same gun

Press Association 
Police and the media outside the home of Saad Al-Hilli in Claygate, Surrey 

Four people shot dead in the French Alps were killed with the same gun, police say, fuelling speculation they were targeted by a contract killer.
French investigators revealed each person was shot twice in the head in a secluded car park in the Combe d'Ire forest, near Chevaline.
Saad al-Hilli, 50, from Surrey, was killed in the family car during a holiday, alongside his dentist wife Iqbal in a remote spot close to Lake Annecy. Mrs al-Hilli's mother also died in the shooting along with Sylvain Mollier, 45, a French cyclist who apparently stumbled across the shooting on Wednesday.
The couple's seven-year-old daughter, Zainab al-Hilli, was shot and so brutally beaten during the attack that doctors placed her in a medically-induced coma. She has since regained consciousness and was able to hold a brief discussion with officers in France, sources close to the investigation have said.
Zainab is seen as a key witness to the horrific attack that left her parents and grandmother dead. Her younger sister Zeena, four, who survived by cowering behind her mother, has flown back to Britain with carers.
Detailed ballistic analysis of 25 spent cartridges found at the scene revealed they all came from a 7.65mm automatic pistol, according to local reports. French police are also examining two mobile phones found in the al-Hilli's bullet-ridden BMW, just a few miles from Le Solitaire du Lac, a campsite in Saint-Jorioz where they were staying.
Meanwhile, witnesses have described seeing a green four-wheel-drive vehicle in the area at the time of the killings, and possibly a motorbike.
One man, thought to be one of the last people to see the family alive, told reporters the family had arrived at the isolated car park at least an hour before the murders. Laurent Fillion-Robin, 38, said there was no sign of any vehicle following the group when he watched the red British-registered BMW drive past between 2.30pm and 3pm. He heard no gun shots.
The spotlight in the criminal investigation has turned on the al-Hilli family home in the affluent village of Claygate in Surrey after police identified items of concern and called in a bomb disposal squad from the Royal Logistic Corps.
Neighbouring properties were evacuated as experts examined the mock-Tudor house, focusing on a shed at the bottom of the garden. But officers later said that the unidentified items were not hazardous.

Alps victims had moved campsite

Press Association 
A British man murdered alongside his wife and mother-in-law on holiday in the French Alps moved his family from one campsite to another two days before they were gunned down.
A Dutch couple believed the group planned to spend a week at the three-star Village Camping Europa site in St Jorioz but they left after a two-night stay.
The campers said father-of-two Saad al-Hilli acted strangely during that time, leaving his family alone several times each day. They also noticed an unusual man wearing a smart jacket visiting while the al-Hillis were there.
The family moved into neighbouring site Le Solitaire du Lac last Monday before the brutal attack in a remote spot close to Lake Annecy on Wednesday afternoon.
Investigators have said each victim was killed with the same gun, fuelling speculation they were targeted by a contract killer. Each person was shot twice in the head. Detailed ballistic analysis of 25 spent cartridges found at the scene revealed they all came from a 7.65mm automatic pistol.
Sylvain Mollier, 45, a French cyclist who apparently stumbled across the attack, was also killed.
Staff at Village Camping Europa described the family as "very quiet, nice people". A manager, who refused to give her name, said: "They came to stay with us on Saturday evening and left on Monday. That was pre-planned - they were here for just a few days."
She dismissed suggestions that Mr al-Hilli behaved oddly during his stay, adding: "There was nothing strange. All families leave the campsite at all sorts of times to run errands, go to the shop, organise activities, that sort of thing." And she said comments about a mysterious man described as appearing "to come from the Balkans" were "ridiculous". She said: "That was an Italian man who was here. He left and got on his plane as was planned."
The bodies of Mr al-Hilli, 50, from Claygate in Surrey, his dentist wife Iqbal and Mrs al-Hilli's mother were discovered in their bullet-ridden BMW in a secluded car park in the Combe d'Ire forest, near Chevaline, just a few miles from Le Solitaire du Lac.
The al-Hillis' two daughters survived the horrific attack. Seven-year-old Zainab - who was shot and so brutally beaten that doctors placed her in a medically-induced coma - is now seen as one of the key witnesses. Her younger sister Zeena, four, escaped unscathed by cowering behind her mother as bullets rained down. She has flown back to Britain with carers.

Alps Shooting: 'Machine Gun Used In Killings'

Sky News  
Alps Shooting: 'Machine Gun Used In Killings' 
Gun experts believe the weapon used in a quadruple murder in the French Alps was a Czech-made machine gun called a Skorpion.
Police are satisfied that just one weapon was used in the attack close to Lake Annecy - reportedly a 7.65-calibre gun.
Experts said the nature of the attack on the al Hilli family, who lived in Surrey, and a cyclist who stumbled upon the scene "pointed strongly" to the Skorpion.
The weapon was developed in the 1950s for use by security and special forces and is reportedly still used as a weapon by armed forces in some countries.
All four who died were shot twice in the head.
Sky's Crime Correspondent Martin Brunt said: "The Skorpion is easily reloadable, doesn't sound very loud, which might explain why nobody as far as we know heard the attack on the al Hilli family.
"It's a gun which holds 20 rounds and we know that there were 25 bullet casings found at the scene...
"All this fuels the idea that this was an attacker who knew exactly what he was doing.
"And if not a professional, it was someone who was operating in a very clinical and methodical way."
French officials said that despite media reports of the calibre of the weapon, they denied having confirmed "the nature, calibre and number of weapons used".
Meanwhile, French officers are now combing through CCTV as they attempt to trace a dark 4x4 vehicle spotted near the scene.
They have also been searching woodland and remote hikers' huts for any trace of the attacker, who is believed to have been acting alone when he struck at a secluded car park in the Combe d'Ire forest, near Chevaline, fuelling speculation they were targeted by a contract killer.
Saad al Hilli, 50, from Surrey, was killed in the family car alongside his dentist wife Iqbal during their holiday.
Her mother also died in the shooting along with Sylvain Mollier, 45, a French cyclist who apparently stumbled across the shooting on Wednesday.
The couple's seven-year-old daughter, Zainab, was shot and so brutally beaten during the attack that doctors placed her in a medically-induced coma.
She has since regained consciousness and was able to hold a brief discussion with officers in France, sources close to the investigation have said.
Zainab is seen as a key witness to the horrific attack, along with her younger sister, four-year-old Zeena, who was not shot and has now been flown back to Britain with carers.
It is unclear who will take custody of the two orphaned children.
French police are also examining two mobile phones found in the bullet-ridden BMW, just a few miles from Le Solitaire du Lac, a campsite in Saint-Jorioz where they were staying.
Witnesses have also described seeing a motorbike in the area.
An investigation at the al Hilli family home in the affluent village of Claygate, Surrey, appears to be winding down after British police identified items of concern and a bomb disposal squad was called in.
Neighbouring properties were evacuated as police focused on a shed at the bottom of the garden. 
Officers later said that the unidentified items were not hazardous.
Police were later us
ing power tools to try to open a safe in the al Hilli home.
Some media reports have suggested that Mr al Hilli, an engineer who left Saddam Hussein's Iraq years ago, was known to the security services and was put under surveillance by Metropolitan Police Special Branch during the second Gulf war.

Alps Shootings: Police Find Two Phones In Car

Sky News –  Sun, Sep 9, 2012  
Police in France have found two mobile phones inside the car in which three people, including a British couple, were shot dead. 
Click here to see Yahoo News Video from British Expert analysing the Shooting Murder
Sky's crime correspondent Martin Brunt, who is in Annecy where the murders took place, said the phones could explain how and why Saad al Hilli and his wife Iqbal died, alongside a Swedish woman and a French cyclist.
"Did they make any calls in the preceding hours or days that might have involved a rendezvous in that remote layby halfway up the mountain to meet someone they knew?" he asked.
Brunt said the phones would also tell the police if calls had been made to the emergency services as the attack happened.
The couple's two daughters survived the attack and are being treated in hospital in France.
French and British police will today conduct further searches of the al Hilli family home in Claygate, Surrey, as they look for a motive for Wednesday's murders.
Officers began a detailed search of the family's mock Tudor property yesterday.
They placed a tent in the driveway of the house and also took evidence-gathering material, including boxes and bags, into the property as well as photographing the exterior.
One forensics officer took various pieces of equipment into the property, including an angle grinder which could be used to access locked cupboards or a safe.
During a news conference in France, prosecutor Eric Maillaud said each of the four people who died was shot twice in the head, and he hoped the authorities would "solve this awful drama as quickly as possible".
French detectives from the Haute-Savoie region widened their investigation by travelling to the UK.
In a joint statement by British and French officers outside Woking police station, Colonel Marc de Tarle said the investigation was "long and complex" but that the cooperation between both countries was going smoothly.
In Surrey, a technician from a local security firm was called to disable the burglar alarm that sounded shortly after detectives went into the detached house.
Former Metropolitan Police detective Peter Bleksley told Sky News: "It was a visit more than a search for the French officers.
"They've left it in the hands of the forensics experts who are in the blue and white overalls and will pick through this house.
"Our homes tell the stories of our lives and there could be all sorts of things that might offer up unknown facts or family secrets."
French investigators also plan to interview Mr al Hilli's brother - who has approached UK police to deny any feud between the siblings over money.
Mr Maillaud said the police would be speaking to all immediate family members about the killings.
Iraqi-born Mr al Hilli, 50, was shot dead in his BMW alongside his dentist wife while on holiday close to Lake Annecy.
An older Swedish woman who was travelling in the car was also killed, along with Sylvain Mollier, 45, a French cyclist who apparently stumbled across the attack in Chevaline, near the borders of Italy and Switzerland.
Around 40 French investigators are working around the clock on the case. Swiss and Italian police are also helping in the hunt for those behind the shootings.
The couple's four-year-old daughter Zeena lay undiscovered under her mother's corpse for eight hours after the murders, while her seven-year-old sister Zainab remains in a medically-induced coma after being shot and beaten.
There has been speculation the Swedish woman is the children's grandmother but this has not been confirmed.
Two close family members of the young girls have arrived in the region with a British social worker. They will be allowed to visit the children, but only under the supervision of detectives.
The two orphans have been in the care of British consular staff and nurses.
Mr Maillaud said Zeena has been looked after by psychiatric teams and had spoken about what he described as the "terror" of what happened, but did not see anything because she was hiding.
Zainab is not yet well enough to be interviewed, but it is hoped she will be able to provide vital details of the attackers.
Police in France have found two mobile phones inside the car in which three people, including a British couple, were shot dead. 

France Shooting: Bullet-Ridden BMW Removed

Sky News –  Thu, Sep 6, 2012  
Police have removed the bullet-ridden BMW from the scene of a mystery shooting which left a British family dead in the French Alps.
Detectives believe the gunman used an automatic weapon and may have been a professional killer.
They said three of the four people killed received bullet wounds to the centre of the forehead during the bloodshed near the village of Chevaline, near Lake Annecy, in the Haute-Savoie region.
French President Francois Hollande, speaking at a press conference in London, where he was attending the Paralympic Games, said "everything will be done" to find the killer.
The British husband and wife killed were named by neighbours as Saad and Iqbal al Hilli. Their two children, who survived the attack, were named as eight-year-old Zehab and four-year-old Zaina.
Iraqi-born Mr al Hilli, 50, a skilled computer engineer from Claygate, Surrey, was found slumped over the wheel of his bullet-riddled red BMW estate with the engine still running.
His wife and her mother, who has a Swedish passport, were found shot dead in the back.
Public prosecutor Eric Maillaud said a passing cyclist, a British former RAF officer on holiday, discovered the bodies and alerted emergency services.
He also found Zehab, who collapsed in front of him near the car. She had been violently beaten around the head and shot in the shoulder. She is now fighting for her life in an induced coma in a hospital in the city of Grenoble.
Her sister Zaina was found alive hiding underneath the front passenger seat and legs of her mother - eight hours after the massacre. She has been admitted to another Grenoble hospital in "distress" and is receiving psychiatric care.
Both girls, who go to school in Claygate, are being guarded by armed police.
The body of a male cyclist - Sylvain Mollier, a father-of-three, from the nearby town of Ugines - was found near the BMW.
It is thought the factory worker inadvertently cycled into the scene of the attack, moments after overtaking the British cyclist. Mr Mollier was shot in the head, as was Mr al Hilli and his mother-in-law.
Mr Maillaud described the shooting as "horrific and alarming" and "a gross act of savagery" during a press conference in Annecy.
Mr al Hilli had been working as a freelance engineer for Guildford-based Surrey Satellite Technology after fleeing Saddam's Iraq, neighbours said.
He and his family had been staying in a caravan at a campsite popular with UK tourists called Le Solitaire du Lac, in Saint Jorioz, since Monday.
It is believed their neighbours at the campsite alerted police when they appeared to be missing.
No weapons were found at the scene of the shooting, which happened at around 3.40pm on Wednesday. Fifteen cartridges were found near the vehicle.
Only the windows had been shot through, leading police to speculate it may have been the work of a professional hitman.
Stephane Bouchet, from local newspaper Le Dauphine Libere, told Sky News a witness two miles from the car park saw a car driving very fast away from the scene around the time of the shooting.
Post-mortems are due to be carried out on Thursday or Friday.
There are 60 police officers involved in the operation and the nearby area has been sealed off as investigations continue.
Surrey Police said it was assisting the French authorities and liaising with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Alps Shootings: Brother Denies 'Conflict'

Sky News –  Fri, Sep 7, 2012  
The brother of a British computer engineer shot dead in the French Alps has denied being in dispute with the dead man, police said. 
Saad al Hilli, 50, was slumped over the wheel of his bullet-riddled BMW in an isolated woodland car park near Lake Annecy. The bodies of his dentist wife Iqbal, 47, and an older Swedish woman were found in the back.
The couple's four-year-old daughter Zeena laid undiscovered under her mother's body for eight hours, while her seven-year-old sister Zainab is in an induced coma after being shot and beaten.
The body of a French cyclist, Sylvain Mollier, 45, who apparently stumbled across the attack, was found nearby.
Prosecutor Eric Maillaud told a news conference information had come from a police source about a "possible conflict with regard to money matters" between Mr al Hilli and his brother.
But he said the brother had told British officers this was not case. He learned of the murders on TV and went to see police to get more information.
He then returned to a police station after reports emerged of a fraternal dispute, telling them: "I have no conflict, no feud, with my brother." Mr Maillaud said a French detective had flown to the UK to interview him as a witness.
Mr Maillaud also confirmed the identities of the murdered British family, from Claygate, Surrey. He said the information had come from Zeena, who was able to give the first names of her dead parents and her sister.
But the little girl did not know the identity of the elderly woman found dead in the car. It was initially reported she was Mr al Hilli's mother-in-law.
He said Zeena had not seen the attackers. "She didn't bring anything to the inquiry," he added. "The little girl was terrorised. She rushed under her mother's legs. She heard, but she didn't see anything."
He also said detectives would get the DNA of the victims in the next few hours. All of the bodies had been shot at least three times - contradicting earlier reports - and 25 bullet cartridges were found at the scene. Earlier, police said 15 were found.
Mr Maillaud said the British cyclist who discovered the bodies did not hear any shots, but saw a green 4X4 car and a motorbike leaving the scene.
Police could not confirm whether the killer used a silencer or the type of weapon used. "It's absolutely useless to tell the killers everything they used, or everything we know," Mr Maillaud added.
Meanwhile, officers are searching for a driver seen speeding away from the scene, according to Sky sources.
Detectives are trying to track down the man, who was wearing a black shirt and driving a white Peugeot 4x4.
It is understood the car had to swerve to avoid a woman in another car travelling in the other direction on Wednesday afternoon.
A witness told Sky News: "It was a white car, a small one with a man inside ... and I think he was alone. Brown hair, I believe.
"No one takes that turn that fast, because there is no visibility, you have to slow down and that was really too fast."
The bodies were found just off the country road.
The British cyclist, a former RAF officer on holiday, also found Zainab, who collapsed in front of him near the car. She had been beaten around the head and shot in the shoulder.
She had been fighting for her life in an induced coma at a hospital in the city of Grenoble, but is now in a stable condition. Detectives hope she will recover sufficiently from the trauma to give clues to the killing.
Her sister has been admitted to another Grenoble hospital in "distress" and is receiving psychiatric care.
Both girls, who go to school in Claygate, are being guarded by armed police.
Mr al Hilli had been working as a freelance engineer for Guildford-based Surrey Satellite Technology after fleeing Saddam Hussein's Iraq.
He and his family had been staying in a caravan at a campsite popular with UK tourists called Le Solitaire du Lac, in Saint Jorioz, since Monday.
No weapons were found at the scene of the shooting, which happened at around 3.40pm on Wednesday.
Police have now re-opened the car park where the attack happened, but despite a lengthy clean-up operation, glass, tyre marks and blood can still be seen at the site.

Alps Shootings Survivor Returns To Britain

Sky News –  Mon, Sep 10, 2012  
A young girl who survived a gun attack in the French Alps which killed her parents has returned to Britain with relatives.
Four-year-old Zeena al Hilli was discovered hiding under the body of her dead mother Iqbal, who was killed alongside her father Saad and two other people on Wednesday.
She returned to the UK accompanied by an aunt and uncle who travelled to France following the shootings, French prosecutor Eric Maillaud said.
"She (Zeena) returned to the UK by air. On arrival she was put under the care of the authorities and the social services."
Her seven-year-old sister Zainab was brought out of a medically-induced coma on Sunday after being shot in the shoulder and beaten. She remains heavily sedated in hospital.
"The little girl has come out of the artificial coma but she is under sedation and her speech is not yet audible," Mr Maillaud said. "She is in a better state of health now."
The AFP news agency earlier reported that Mr al Hilli's brother will be questioned by detectives for a second time, amid claims the pair were in a dispute over money.
He has denied that there was any feud between them.
An older Swedish woman who was travelling in the al Hilli’s BMW 4x4 was also killed, along with Sylvain Mollier, 45, a French cyclist who apparently stumbled across the attack in Chevaline, near the borders of Italy and Switzerland.
Swiss and Italian police are helping in the hunt for those behind the shootings.
Police officer Benoit Vinneman told reporters that the crime scene is being re-examined, and that it would be wrong to focus on the theory of an "ordered execution".
"Is this the work of a crazy person? Was the family the real target? Only work based on complete information can help us to see things clearly."
Two mobile phones discovered in the car are being examined by detectives.
Sky's crime correspondent Martin Brunt said police will want to discover whether any calls were made in the preceding hours or days that might have involved a "rendezvous" in the remote layby.
Meanwhile, a detailed search by French and British police for clues at the al Hilli family's home is in its second day.
Officers placed a tent in the driveway of the house in Claygate, Surrey, on Saturday and also took evidence-gathering material, including boxes and bags, into the property.
Equipment was taken into the house, including an angle grinder which could be used to access locked cupboards or a safe.
Click here to see video on Yahoo News

Saad Al-Hilli, 50, was ambushed with his family
on Wednesday during a family outing in the French Alps


Each one killed with a single shot to the head: Family massacred in French Alps bore trademark of a professional hitman

  • Remote location at car park near Lake Annecy would mean few if any witnesses to the atrocity
  • Killer could have been out of France within minutes of the murders on Wednesday, possibly boarding a plane from Geneva within two hours
  • He might also have known there were no security cameras in the area
  • Saad Al-Hilli, a Baghdad-born businessman, who lived in Claygate, Surrey, was killed along with his wife Iqbal, his mother-in-law and a passing cyclist
  • His daughter Zeena, four, managed to survive ordeal
  • Her older sister, Zainab, seven, found near car in critical condition after being hit three times over head with a blunt instrument

Three adult members of a seemingly respectable family, each murdered with a single shot in the head.

A seven-year-old girl left with life-threatening injuries and her younger sister badly traumatised after somehow escaping  alive from a psychopathic killer. 

A cyclist who is believed to have witnessed the bloodbath mercilessly assassinated.

Such barbarity would be shocking in some of the world’s most lawless countries: Afghanistan, Iraq, Colombia...

But for it to happen in a car park near the tranquil shores of Lake Annecy in the French Alps makes the crime infinitely more difficult to comprehend.

And, crucially, much more difficult to solve.

What better location for a professional hit than in a remote area, with few if any witnesses likely to see the atrocity, with quick road access to airports in three countries – France, Italy and Switzerland, and even further afield.

As French police launched an extensive manhunt to find the killer or killers, investigators were officially keeping an open mind about the motive for the crime and who might have been behind it.

The ruthless efficiency with which the murders were carried out suggested strongly that Saad Al-Hilli, his wife Ikbal and the rest of his family were specific targets, and the cyclist killed because he saw too much.

Pictures of the murder scene – in an isolated forest car park, 2.5 miles from the nearest village – show how the BMW was hit with automatic fire before the victims were finished off at point-blank range.

Had Mr Al-Hilli and his family been targeted in the UK, police would probably have had access to CCTV footage and data from number-plate recognition cameras, in their hunt for the killer’s escape vehicle.

Scroll down for video

How the brutal slaying of the family in the French Alps unfolded

But in Chevaline there has never been any need for security cameras, another possible clue that the killer may have carefully researched the best place, in terms of escaping detection, to commit the crimes.

A quick look at a local map shows he could have been out of France within minutes of the murders on Wednesday, possibly boarding a plane from Geneva within two hours.

 

Or perhaps he elected to drive several hours across Europe. Several witnesses reported seeing a car speeding away from the scene near Albertville, in France’s Haute-Savoie region, close to the Italian and Swiss borders, around the time of the attack.

No arrests were made in the immediate aftermath of the attack, nor did police report the discovery of any weapon.

Bullet-ridden: Police gather evidence from the BMW estate where Saad Al-Hilli and his family was massacred by a suspected assassin in the French Alps

Bullet-ridden: Police gather evidence from the BMW estate where Saad Al-Hilli and his family was massacred by a suspected assassin

Delayed reaction: Several hours after police arrived on scene, Mr Al-Hilli's four-year-old daughter Zeena was found alive huddling under her mother's legs inside the car

Delayed reaction: Several hours after police arrived on scene, Mr Al-Hilli's four-year-old daughter Zeena was found alive huddling under her mother's legs inside the car

Crime scene: French gendarme police escort the car involved in the shooting of a British family away from the area

Crime scene: French gendarme police escort the car involved in the shooting of the British family away from the area

But 15 spent, automatic pistol cartridges were found at the scene. ‘It was clearly an act of extreme savagery and it was obvious that whoever did this wanted to kill,’ said French prosecutor Eric Maillaud.

If Mr Al-Hilli’s family were deliberately targeted, police will want to establish how the killer knew where they were. Did he wait outside their campsite before ambushing them in the countryside?

The Iraqi-born British businessman’s commercial activities and political affiliations in his homeland will also be key lines of inquiry.

The bodies being taken away from the scene in a private ambulance escorted by police

The bodies being taken away from the scene in a private ambulance escorted by police

Tragedy: French police on guard near the site of the brutal slaying

Tragedy: French police on guard near the site of the brutal slaying

London link: The home of Saad Al-Hilli in Claygate, Surrey

London link: The home of Saad Al-Hilli in Claygate, Surrey

But French police, whose track record in investigating the murders of British nationals makes uncomfortable reading, would be foolish to rule out other possible explanations.

Already there has been speculation that the attack may have been a case of mistaken identity linked to drugs.

Another theory is that shots could have been fired during a bungled armed robbery, with the dead cyclist being a witness to the crime. Reports suggest the same gang may have carried out previous attacks.

Another possibility is that the crimes were racially motivated, or that the gunman is mentally ill.

The French prosecutor described the carnage as being like something seen in a film.

In most crime movies, the killer is finally brought to justice. If this was a professional hit, it will be a serious challenge for the French police to live up to that script.

The little Venice of the Alps

See VIDEO in the Daily Mail of: British PM David Cameron and
French President Francois Hollande cow to do all they can..



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“...'Japan Earthquake' and 'accidents' that occurred March 11, 2011,
were deliberate acts of tectonic nuclear warfare...."
.........Leuren Moret  an expert witness at the International Criminal Tribunal For Afghanistan At Tokyo. 

Click on the below link for more on this subject
http://inlnews.com/JapaneseEarthquakeDebate.html 


High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program HAARP

described on the HAARP Website as a Premier Facility for the Study of  Ionosperic Physics and Radio Science
Questions of a technical nature may be submitted via e-mail to: 

Could The HAARP Project
Be For Mind Control?

Click on the below link for more on this subject
http://inlnews.com/JapaneseEarthquakeDebate.html  


by Nicholas Jones, nicholasjones99@yahoo.com

Earth is wrapped in a donut shaped magnetic field. Circular lines of flux continuously descend into the North Pole and emerge from the South Pole. The ionosphere, an electromagnetic-wave conductor, 100 kms above the earth, consists of a layer of electrically charged particles acting as a shield from solar winds. Natural waves are related to the electrical activity in the atmosphere and are thought to be caused by multiple lightning storms. Collectively, these waves are called ‘The Schumann Resonance´, the current strongest at 7.8 Hz. These are quasi-standing extremely low frequency (ELF) waves that naturally exist in the earth´s ‘electromagnetic´ cavity, the space between the ground and the ionosphere. These ‘earth brainwaves´ are identical to the spectrum of our brainwaves.

(1 hertz = 1 cycle per second, 1 Khz = 1000, 1 Mhz =1 million. A 1 Hertz wave is 186,000 miles long, 10 Hz is 18,600 miles. Radio-waves move at the speed of light.)

The Creator designed living beings to resonate to this natural frequency pulsation in order to evolve harmoniously. The ionosphere is being manipulated by US govt. scientists using an Alaskan transmitter called HAARP, (High-Frequency Active Auroral Research Program) which sends focused radiated power to heat up sections of the ionosphere, which bounces power down again. ELF waves from HAARP when targeted on areas can weather-engineer and create mood changes affecting millions. The intended wattage is 1,700 billion watts of power. A former govt. insider deduced they want to flip the world upside down. 64 elements in the ground modulate, with variation, the geomagnetic waves naturally coming from the ground.

The ‘earth´s natural brain rhythm´ above is balanced with these. These are the same minerals as the red blood corpuscles. There is a relation between the blood and geomagnetic waves. An imbalance between Schumann and geomagnetic waves disrupts biorhythms. These natural geomagnetic waves are being replaced by artificially created very low frequency (VLF) ground waves coming from GWEN Towers.

GWEN (Ground Wave Emergency Network) transmitters placed 200 miles apart across the USA allow specific frequencies to be tailored to the geomagnetic-field strength in each area, allowing the magnetic field to be altered. They operate in the VLF range, with transmissions between VLF 150 and 175 KHz. They also emit UHF waves of 225 - 400 MHz. The VLF signals travel by waves that hug the ground rather than radiating into the atmosphere. A GWEN station transmits circularly up to 300 miles, the signal dropping off sharply with distance. The entire GWEN system consists of, (depending on source of data), from 58 to an intended 300 transmitters spread across the USA, each with a tower 299-500 ft high. 300 ft copper wires in spoke like fashion fan out from the base of the system underground, interacting with the earth like a thin shelled conductor, radiating radio wave energy for very long distances through the ground. USA bathes in this magnetic field which rises to 500 ft, even going down to basements, so everyone is mind-controlled. The whole artificial ground-wave spreads out over USA like a web. It is easier to mind-control and hypnotize people who are bathed in an artificial electromagnetic-wave. (Covering the entire floor with aluminum and buying a CET cylinder from Nordic Living Water Systems helps.) GWEN transmitters have many different functions including controlling the weather, mind, behavior and mood control.

These work in conjunction with HAARP and the Russian Woodpecker transmitter, similar to HAARP. The Russians openly market a small version of their weather-engineering system called Elate, which can fine-tune weather patterns over a 200 mile area and have the same range as the GWEN unit. One operates at Moscow airport. The GWEN Towers shoot enormous bursts of energy into the atmosphere in conjuction with HAARP. The website www.cuttingedge.org wrote an expose of how the major floods of the Mid-West USA occurred in 1993.

Invisible enormous rivers of water, consisting of vapors that flow, move towards the poles in the lower atmosphere. They rival the flow of the Amazon River and are 420 to 480 miles wide and up to 4,800 miles long. They are 1.9 miles above the earth and have volumes of 340 lbs of water per second. There are 5 atmospheric rivers in each Hemisphere. A massive flood can be created by damming up one of these massive vapor rivers, causing huge amounts of rainfall to be dumped.

The GWEN Towers positioned along the areas north of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers were turned on for 40 days and 40 nights, probably mocking the Flood of Genesis. (This was in conjunction with HAARP, that creates a river of electricity flowing thousands of miles through the sky and down to the polar ice-cap, manipulating the jet-stream , like The Woodpecker.) These rivers flooded, causing agricultural losses of $12-15 billion. HAARP produces earthquakes by focusing on the fault lines. GWEN Towers are on the fault lines and volcanic areas of the Pacific Northeast.



http://inlnews.com/CovertDepopulationTactic.html
 

1. INTERVIEW 1: GLOBAL DEPOPULATION AGENDA 5
2. INTERVIEW II: FUKUSHIMA, NO ACCIDENT 15
A New World Order Watch Media Publication (www.visionreportwatch.com) July 2012: Issue 25
GLOBAL DEPOPULATION STRATEGY INTERVIEW
http://WWW.VISIONREPORTWATCH.COM
Leuren Moret was an expert witness at the International Criminal Tribunal For Afghanistan At Tokyo. She is an independent scientist and international expert on
radiation and public health issues. She is on the organizing committee of the World Committee on Radiation Risk, an organization of independent radiation
specialists, including members of the Radiation Committee in the EU parliament, the European Committee on Radiation Risk. She has been an environmental
commissioner for the City of Berkeley. Ms. Moret earned her BSc in geology at U.C. Davis in 1968 and her MA in Near Eastern studies from U.C. Berkeley.
She has travelled and conducted scientific research in 42 countries. She contributed to a scientific report on depleted uranium for the United Nations sub commission investigating the illegality of depleted uranium munitions. She has also conducted research concerning the impact on the health of the
environment and global public health from atmospheric testing, nuclear power plants, and depleted uranium. She has helped collect and measure radiation in 6000 baby teeth from children living around nuclear power plants, and helped The State of Louisiana (USA) pass the first state depleted uranium bill for mandatory testing of soldiers.
Her article "Depleted Uranium: The Trojan Horse of Nuclear War" in the June 2004 World Affairs Journal was translated at the request of the Kremlin for distribution throughout the Russian government.
Moret describes herself as a whistle-blower on nuclear weapon research and states that her 2000 visit to the Peace Museums at Hiroshima and Nagasaki changed her life. Her efforts are focused on educating people about the negative impact of radiation on health and advocates against testing of nuclear
weapons.

 
However one of her most controversial conclusions was where she declared on March 21, 2011 that the “Japan Earthquake" and “accidents” that occurred March 11, 2011, were deliberate acts of tectonic nuclear warfare.
Known as the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, it was the most powerful known earthquake ever to have hit Japan, and one of the five most powerful earthquakes in the world since modern record-keeping began in 1900.The earthquake triggered powerful tsunami waves that reached heights of up to 40.5 metres (133 ft) in Miyako and which, in the Sendai area, travelled up to 10 km (6 mi) inland. The earthquake moved Honshu 2.4 m (8 ft) east and shifted the Earth on its axis by estimates of between 10 cm and 25
cm.
Moret claimed further that the "attack" was carried out using High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) technology by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the United States Department of Energy, and British Petroleum on behalf of London banking interests.
Without her esteemed history and credibility within the scientific arena many would have dismissed her views as wild conspiracy theories yet her views are more and more raising questions within the scientific field regarding a global agenda to depopulate the earth through the use of radiation.
In 2008 she wrote an article in which she said,

“The international bankers located within the ancient Roman “City of London” have decided that: if you 
control the food, you control the nation, if you control the energy, you control a region, and if you control 
money, you control the whole world.
The City of London international bankers are the descendants of the Merchants of Venice, who are 
descended from those who controlled the Roman, Egyptian, and Mesopotamian empires. They invented 
the concept of a corporation to relieve themselves of any liability for their actions. 
Maurice Strong, more than anyone else in the world, has written the rules for the global takeover of land, 
resources and people by these international bankers. Strong began working for the Rockefellers when 
he was 18 and he continues to work for and with the Wall Street-City of London bankers today. And 
under the terms of globalization set up by Strong and others, private corporations have no responsibility 
or liability.
Jacob Rothschild and the Rothschild Family own 80% of the world's uranium. Individual property owners 
now typically own only the top 6 inches of soil on their land. Everything else, presumably down to the 
center of the earth, is owned by the City of London. Today, this global land grab is comprised of
countless local land grabs.
Governments such as the US government are creating Wildlands and National Heritage Sites. And this 
is proceeding under the justification of environmental protection. Meanwhile, people are being squeezed 
off their land. The environmental movement and NGOs (non-governmental organizations) have tricked
us into relinquishing our private property rights guaranteed to us by the US Constitution. Agenda 21- the 
UN Agenda for the Twenty-First Century, also created by Maurice Strong- is proceeding at triple speed 
under Bush II.”
In this edition of the Vision Report Watch she unveils a deep insight into her research in two monumental interviews with the Media Conscious Network.
Reece Woodstock Chief Editor, Vision Report Watch

                                                           


  



  



   


  


  




















6 September 2012

Shootings at Annecy France

by Patrick Jackson BBC News


French Alps Shooting: Three Bodies Found 

In British-Registered Car And Another Nearby, 

Young Girl Survives

PA/The Huffington Post UK  |  Posted: 05/09/2012

UPDATE: The British man shot dead with two members of his family in the French Alps 
has been named as Saad El Hilli by AFP. The family are believed to be from London.

A four-year-old girl was found alive inside a car containing three victims of a fatal shooting spree
in the French Alps that is thought to have involved a British family.
Investigators discovered the unharmed youngster among the dead bodies of a man and two women after being called to the massacre in the Haute-Savoie region.
A seven-year-old girl was discovered lying on the road in a critical condition near the BMW people carrier while a male cyclist, named locally as Sylvain Mollier, suffered gunshot wounds and was found dead close by.
french
A gendarme stands by the caravan where the slain British family were holidaying in a camp site of Saint Jorioz, near Annecy
French prosecutors said the girl of four was only found when investigators began a forensic examination of the car, with reports suggesting this was eight hours after the initial discovery.

It was also reported that she was speaking English and hiding underneath some of the bodies.
Benoit Vinnemann, who is leading the investigation, told the BBC: "The three bodies found in the car appear to be the father, mother and grandmother.
"It is in any case a family, according to British people at the Saint-Jorioz camping site who reported their disappearance on Wednesday night."
Officers were reportedly given a tip-off about the grisly scene by another cyclist.
france murder
An investigator enters the trailer where the slain British family were holidaying
Investigators said no weapon has been found and no arrests have been made. 
It was also unclear if the shootings had been carried out by one killer or a number of people.
One theory is that shots could have been fired during a bungled armed robbery, 
with the dead cyclist being a witness to the crime.
Local paper Le Dauphine said cyclist Mollier was a 40-year-old father of three
currently on parental leave, and had gone for an leisurely cycle.
His wife, worried when he did not return from his cycle ride, alerted the authorities, without making a link to the killings.
She went to a local police station with a photograph of her husband. Officers quickly made the link and her husband was identified as the fourth victim.
He found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, Annecy prosecutor Eric Maillaud said.
The BMW was discovered surrounded by spent bullet cartridges on Wednesday afternoon in a car park on the outskirts of a forest near Lake Annecy, a picturesque region popular with tourists.
Maillaud said 15 cartridges were found around the car and that a "very large number" of shots had been fired.
The firearm used in the spree is thought to be an automatic pistol, he added.
franceannecygraphic
The remote area where the bodies were found near Lake Annecy, France
French officials confirmed the British-registered vehicle was owned by a UK national who was staying at a nearby campsite, believed to be in the Saint-Jorioz area.
Mr Maillaud said the man had checked into the site with two women and two young girls, adding: "The owner of the vehicle was British and he was the person who identified himself to the campsite.
"He is presumed to be a victim and was accompanied by two women and two little girls.
"We can assume it's a family although it is yet to be proved. We have been taking evidence, including DNA, which will be sent to the British authorities for confirmation."
Mr Maillaud, who described the scene as being like something seen in a film, said the two dead women were found in the back seat of the car and the dead man was discovered in the front.
The prosecutor added: "At the beginning of the investigation when the investigators got into the car they discovered a little (four-year-old) girl, who was frozen still and uninjured."
"She could not tell the difference between the good guys and bad guys. She spontaneously began to smile and speak in English when the policeman took her in his arms and pulled her out of the car."
He added: "She had heard the noises, the cries but she couldn't say more, she is only four years old."
Mr Maillaud said the critically injured seven-year-old was taken to the nearby Grenoble University Hospital where her condition had been stabilised following emergency surgery.
Doctors have now said she is now out of danger, he added.
"We don't know when we will be able to question her and I would imagine she is in a state of shock," Mr Maillaud said.
chevaline
French gendarmes stand guard near vehicles where a British family stayed prior to be found shot dead
A news website in France said investigators had begun inspecting a caravan used by the family at the campsite Le Solitaire du Lac, at Saint-Jorioz.
One woman at the campsite said: "I saw the two women yesterday with the two little girls collecting apples. Everything seemed normal, but I didn't know them.
"It was the first year that they had been seen here. It is terrible. The atmosphere is heavy, nobody is speaking."
The Foreign Office said it was in close contact with the French authorities and seeking further information.
A FCO spokesman said: "We are aware of the reports of the shooting and we are looking into these urgently."
He added that British consular staff were on the scene to liaise with French authorities.
Some 60 police officers are at the scene, which has been closed off, and a search being conducted of the nearby forest for the perpetrator or perpetrators.
Specialist investigators from the National Gendarmerie's Criminal Research Institute were sent to the area, near the village of Chevaline, from Paris. Forensic scientists have also been working at the crime scene and a police helicopter was seen overhead.
The website of local newspaper Le Dauphine Libere said the passing cyclist who found the bodies was in a state of shock and has been speaking to police.
According to the official website of the lake, the area is known as the "little Venice of the Alps" and is a centre for paragliding, swimming and watersports.
Many hotels, guest houses and campsites are advertised in the area and it is also said to be popular with hikers, cyclists and mountain bikers and, in winter, snowsports.
french shootings
A rescue vehicle arrives at the scene where four were killed close to a British-registered car in the Alpine village of Chevaline
The closest French city is Lyon, which is over 100 miles away, while the capital, Paris, is about 350 miles from Chevaline. Geneva, in Switzerland, is around an hour's drive.
Local journalist Leila Lamnaouer told Sky News it is a "very quiet place" where a lot of people go on holiday.
The shooting appears to have been one of the only major incidents reported in the area this year.
Chevaline is about 50 miles from Mont Maudit in the Mont Blanc range near Chamonix, where nine climbers were killed in an avalanche in July.


Julie McMahon
You wouldn't have any hesitation letting your kids sleep out there”
Julie McMahonBritish expatriate in Haute SavoieA general view of Annecy in the Haute Savoie region of south-eastern France Annecy is a popular holiday destination

Residents have expressed shock and bewilderment at the shooting of four people, three of them believed to be British tourists, in a forest car park near the tourist destination of Lake Annecy.
British expatriate Julie McMahon, who runs a holiday business in Haute Savoie along with her husband Tony, told the BBC News website that holiday-makers came to the region precisely because it was "such a safe, nice place".
The mayor of Chevaline, the village nearest to where the victims were found, told French media he was mystified by such an "improbable" event.
"It feels like being on another planet," Didier Berthollet was quoted as saying by local newspaper L'Essor Savoyard.
A French holiday-maker at the camp where the murdered family had been staying told AFP news agency the event had "created a chill".
'Perfect area'
"This is the kind of place where you don't lock your doors, which is what makes it so shocking," said Mrs McMahon, whose company Family Friendly Skiing is based in Faverges, 6km (4.1 miles) from Chevaline.

Chevaline, she said, was a tiny hamlet where people only went to go walking. Her own children, like other teenagers, used the area for wild camping, she added.
"It is a perfect area for camping," she said. "You don't see people. It is quiet. You wouldn't have any hesitation letting your kids sleep out there."
While gun crime has been a growing concern in France's big cities, it has "not at all been an issue" in Haute Savoie, Mrs McMahon said.
At the same time, shooting is not uncommon in the area at this time of year because of the hunting season, she pointed out.
The worst thing about the news of the attack, initially, had been not knowing the circumstances.
"Nobody said there was a mad person on the road," Mrs McMahon told the BBC. "All we knew was that no weapons had been found."
She added that while the area was popular with Britons, many holiday-makers with children would have already left because of schools re-opening in the UK this week.
'Dreadful'
Mr Berthollet pointed out that the car park where the bodies were discovered lay in an uninhabited forest area 4km (2.5 miles) from the nearest houses.
Given the distance from Chevaline, local residents were not "overly concerned", he said. "It could have happened just as easily somewhere else," he added.
However, AFP reports a sense of shock pervading the Solitaire du Lac camp in St Jorioz, 8km from Chevaline, where the British victims had been staying,
"It's difficult to understand that something like this has taken place in a holiday site," said Frenchman Jean-Claude Guillamet.
"It's created a chill, one can see that people here are very moved."
Mary-Blanche Sibille, another camper, said: "It's dreadful, it's dramatic, above all for the children."

French Alps Shooting: Francois Hollande Says Police Will Do Their 'Utmost' To Find Family's Killer

PA/The Huffington Post UK  |  Posted: 06/09/2012


President Francois Hollande has said authorities will "do our utmost to find the perpetrators" following the brutal deaths of four people - including three members of a British family - in the French Alps.
Mr Hollande, making his third visit to the UK today, joined David Cameron in pledging to get to the bottom of the tragedy.
The Prime Minister described the deaths as "terrible", adding: "I have spoken to the British ambassador in France and consular staff are working very hard so that we do everything we can... and to find out what happened in this very tragic case.
french
A gendarme stands by the caravan where the slain British family were holidaying in a camp site of Saint Jorioz, near Annecy

"Obviously the faster we can get to the bottom of what happened, the better."
Yesterday afternoon, three members of the same family were found with fatal head injuries after a gunman opened fire on them while they were travelling through the picturesque Haute-Savoie region near Lake Annecy in their BMW estate car.
The driver was named by French media as Saad al-Hilli, from Claygate, near Esher in Surrey. Neighbours said they believed he was travelling with his wife, Iqbal, and his mother-in-law, all of whom died during the massacre, alongside a French cyclist, found at the scene.
Mr al-Hilli's daughters, named locally as Zainab, seven, and Zeena, four, were also believed to have been in the vehicle when the gunman struck. Zainab was found violently beaten and is in a coma, fighting for her life.
Zeena was found alive underneath the bodies of her family about eight hours after the massacre.
She was found "terrorised, motionless, in the midst of the bodies" after fellow campers at a nearby site told officers the family had two children, public prosecutor Eric Maillaud said. He described the attack as an act of "gross savagery".
One theory is that shots could have been fired during a bungled armed robbery, with the dead cyclist - named as Sylvain Mollier - being a witness to the crime.
Addressing journalists at ParalympicsGB House in Westfield this afternoon, Mr Hollande offered his sympathy to those affected by the killings.
Speaking through an interpreter, he said: "I expressed my emotion earlier today to the British people in relation to the terrible deaths.
"Both the French and the British family have been impacted by this terrible event and we will do our utmost to find the perpetrators, to find the reasons behind that event.
"Our police are co-operating and everything that is found will be shared."

French Shooting: 'Armed Gangs' Warning For British Tourists In France After Family Killed

PA/The Huffington Post UK  |  Posted: 06/09/2012 

FOLLOW:
France, French Alps, French Shootings, Crime, Automobile-Association, Car Jacking, French Alps Shooting, UK NEWS, UK News
French Shooting
Gendarmes guard the camp where the slain British family were holidaying in a camp site of Saint Jorioz, near Anneccy

The French Alps shooting is a grim reminder of the dangers facing Britons who drive abroad, driving experts have warned.
Britons visit France in their millions each year, with many of these tourists choosing to take their cars with them.
"They are, quite frankly, bandits, and they target visitors from the UK," said AA president Edmund King.
He went on: "There have been incidents in the south of France and in places around Lyon. They look for UK-registered cars then they flash their lights and perhaps point at the tourist car's wheels.
"The tourists stop their car and while one gang member distracts them, another steals from their car. French police have been cracking down on these gangs but there have been isolated and organised incidents from particular gangs in particular areas."
Mr King went on: "There is quite a lot of hunting in southern France so there are a number of guns around. If guns have been carried in previous car-crime incidents then they normally have not actually been used.
"France is the number one country for Britons driving abroad and generally it's a safe country to drive in.
"There are usually a lot of traffic police around as there has been a big crackdown on drink-driving and on speeding of late."
He continued: "Our advice to UK drivers is not to stop if they feel uncomfortable when approached.
"Gangs think that if you are a foreigner you will be more likely to stop as you are a little unsure of yourself as you are abroad."
The Telegraph reported that in 2007, a string of tourists in France were gassed and robbed as they slept in caravans.
France also has far more relaxed gun laws that the UK, handguns, semi-automatic weapons and pump-action shotguns are legal if held by active gun club members. But members must have a licence for them and undergo a medical check.
In March, Mohammed Merah, who claimed to be linked to al-Qaeda, killed four people, three of them children at a Jewish school in Toulouse and shot three soldiers in separate incidents.
He was killed by police, jumping from the roof, after being holed up in his apartment in a 32-hour siege.
France receives more than 19m visits a year from Britons. In its travel advice, the Foreign Office warns those visiting France to take precautions against street and car crime.

France shootings: How can a child aged four handle trauma?

By Golnar MotevalliBBC News

"..It will take years and years of trained professionals helping her...”
Emma CitronConsultant clinical psychologist
A French Gendarme in Chevaline near Annecy, on 6 September 2012 Police said four-year-old Zeena was found "terrorised, motionless, in the midst of bodies"

Zeena, the four-year-old daughter of a couple shot dead in a car in Annecy, was found by police eight hours after they arrived at the scene in Annecy, southern France.
She was concealed underneath her mother's body. She was physically unscathed, but the trauma of what she witnessed and the loss of her parents is likely to affect her for the rest of her life.
Zeena spent Wednesday night in hospital, with a nurse by her side all night.
'Shut down' response
According to Emma Citron, a consultant clinical psychologist who specialises in trauma in children, she would have experienced an acute stress reaction, which is a massive shock as a result of witnessing or being involved in a terrifying incident.
"It's a sort of shut-down response. It offers a degree of protection from having to deal with the the stimuli around you because you go into yourself and shut down," Ms Citron said.
"It allows the person some degree of coping in the most awful situations," she added.
Children of Zeena's age have a concept of life and death, Ms Citron said, but to a less developed extent compared with older children who would have a stronger grasp of the implications of parental death.
Police in Annecy said they spoke briefly to Zeena.
Annecy prosecutor Eric Maillaud said Zeena was found "terrorised, motionless, in the midst of the bodies".
Aware of the severity of the crime and the extent of the shock, police are likely to give Zeena some space, Ms Citron said.
The psychologist said they may take up to a week before trying to question the child.
While it is vital for police to get as much information as they can, and as quickly as possible, their technique in speaking with Zeena will have to ensure that she is not re-traumatised or faced with having to "re-live" the incident.
PTSD risk
"Psychotheraputically, it's better for [the child] to be amongst loved ones and have them nurtured and calmed, but of course the police have to have these vital clues and the police will be consulting with child psychologists on site," Ms Citron said.
There is a strong immediate psychological risk to Zeena of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and this could manifest itself in a number of ways, according to Ms Citron.
Recurrent flashbacks, reliving the incident in her mind like a film, sleeplessness and bed-wetting are among symptoms seen in children suffering from PTSD.
Ms Citron also said that, later in life, children who have witnessed violent events can also underachieve academically and feel they live in a "different sphere or world" from everyone else.
She may struggle in friendships and, Ms Citron said, traumatised children have tended to report later on that people do not understand them.
The loss of her parents, and the realisation of the significance of this as she grows older, will also complicate her trauma.
"It will take years and years of trained professionals helping her. She's at a very formative age where she's very dependent on her loved ones for her care and personality," she said, adding that having family members near to her will be crucial to her recovery and care.
"Even for a young baby, to go through such an awful thing traumatises them. With any developed concept of mortality, as they grow up, more and more, they realise all the loss as they piece it together," Ms Citron said.
Ultimately every child's experience of an atrocity is different, Ms Citron said, and very personal.
Zeena's ability to cope will depend on a number of factors, including her resilience and her genetic disposition.
"As she grows up it would be very much down to her own resilient personality, her genes, whether her family were or weren't copers - all of that has a part to play for how the future pans out for a child."



Neighbour George Aicolina: "I was speechless and cried for a while"

Killings timeline

map of area
1. Family staying at Le Solitaire du Lac camp site in Saint Jorioz
2. 15:50 (13:50 GMT) - Cyclist discovers murder scene at car park
3. 16:00 - French police alerted
4. Critically injured eight-year-old girl flown to hospital
5. Midnight - four-year-old girl found alive in car

France shootings: Three victims shot in head

At the scene

image of Jon KayJon KayBBC News correspondent
At the campsite where the family were staying there is disbelief as police search their empty caravan. Other holidaymakers seem dazed as they watch such a beautiful spot turn into a major crime scene. The pool is empty. The bar closed. All is quiet.
"Where have all these police come from? We don't normally see them here" - the words of an Annecy resident watching officers investigating this murder. People here are not just shocked by the fact that it's happened in such a tranquil Alpine setting - but also by the nature of the killings.
The murders raise questions about whether this was a targeted assassination. There have been occasional roadside robberies here before, but no-one can remember anything quite so brutal and deliberate
Three of the four victims of a shooting in the French Alps were shot in the head, a French prosecutor has said.
A man, named by UK neighbours as Saad al-Hilli, 50, from Surrey, and an elderly woman were found dead in a car near Lake Annecy. A French cyclist, found nearby, was also shot dead.
Mr al-Hilli's wife was also killed, and a daughter, four, hid in the car for eight hours before police found her.
Another daughter was found near the car with serious injuries.
Police said a British cyclist, who had served in the RAF, found the adults and child on a forest road.
Mr al-Hilli's wife was named by neighbours in Claygate as Iqbal, and the couple's daughters as Zainab, seven, and Zeena.
Annecy prosecutor Eric Maillaud said: "It was clearly an act of extreme savagery and it was obvious that who did this wanted to kill."
The motive for the attack remains a mystery, he added.
An automatic pistol was used, and the killer "targeted" the victims rather than indiscriminately firing into the car.
Zainab, found shot outside the British-registered car, has been transferred to a hospital in the city of Grenoble where she has been placed in a medically-induced coma. She is due to be operated on again.
She was shot once, and had head fractures. "She suffered a violent attack," Mr Maillaud said.
Both girls are under police protection in hospital.
Authorities have not confirmed Mr al-Hilli's name, saying only that they know who owns the car, and that the details matched the passport used to book a nearby campsite.
However, they could not match the driver's face with those details yet.
Mr Maillaud also said Iraqi passports had been recovered, and that the older woman had a Swedish passport. Formal identification of all the bodies was ongoing.
The family had arrived on 3 September at the campsite and had been due to leave by the end of the week.
Mr Maillaud said the British cyclist was passing along a road and saw a BMW with the engine still running.
He saw the older girl collapsing in front of him, and helped her into a recovery position, then called firefighters. Mr Maillaud said "without doubt he saved the girl's life".
He then discovered the other cyclist, who had overtaken him earlier, dead on the road. He broke the driver's window of the car, and saw three bodies inside.
The younger daughter was concealed beneath her mother and was not found until midnight.
But Mr Maillaud said that at the time the police were not looking for any more survivors.
She was found "terrorised, motionless, in the midst of the bodies" after fellow guests at the campsite told officers the family had two children, Mr Maillaud said.
The girl spent Wednesday night in hospital, with a nurse by her side all night. Police said they had spoken briefly to her.
French President Francois Hollande has said "everything will be done" by French authorities to find the killer, the AFP news agency reported.
Speaking at a press conference in London, where he is attending the Paralympic Games, the president said France stood "in solidarity" with Britain.
Prime Minister David Cameron expressed a similar desire to find out what happened, saying: "Obviously the faster we can get to the bottom of what happened, the better."
Police in Surrey have said they are assisting the French authorities and liaising with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) following the shooting.
The British ambassador to France, Sir Peter Ricketts, said: "Clearly, this is a terrible, tragic event, a brutal murder, but also a traumatic experience for these two young girls."
Speaking in Annecy, he said consular staff had been with the youngest sister to give her support. "We are doing everything you would imagine we would do with a small girl who must be deeply, deeply traumatised, in a foreign country, not speaking the language."
He said staff were following up information about the family, but he said no relatives were expected from Britain at this stage. He also said he was satisfied that French authorities were doing a "fully professional job".
A neighbour of Mr al-Hilli, George Aicolina, said: "They were a very caring family and they always did things together. The father used to read to the girls quite regularly. It's an almighty shock.
"I was speechless [when I heard] and cried for a while. It's very sad to happen to such a young and lovely family.
"They were well established in the area, the two girls went to a local school. It's very difficult for me to talk about."
He said the young girls "played like kids do and it's very difficult to see how they will cope without a father and mother".
Lengthy delay
Many French web users have expressed incomprehension at the fact that the youngest girl was only discovered eight hours after police arrived.


"How can you know that the occupants of the car were dead if nobody opened the doors for eight hours?" wrote Maria on the website of the daily newspaper Le Monde.
It was not until 23:00 local time (21:00 GMT) that police found out from the family's neighbours at the campsite that the family had a second daughter, and launched a search involving a helicopter and police dogs, one report said.
Police had believed only one child was involved with the scene because only one child seat was found in the car.
The investigators said there were several reasons why the youngest girl was not found earlier, including that police were told not to disturb the scene before the arrival of forensic investigators; and they did not want to compromise the ballistics investigation by opening the car doors because some of the windows had cracks made by the bullets.
Earlier reports said a helicopter with thermal imaging was also used, but did not detect the girl, who may have been concealed under the bodies.
Officials at the scene also tried to look through the car windows, but could not detect any movement.
The dead French cyclist was identified as Sylvain Mollier. His wife contacted police after he failed to return from his ride.


Q&A: Mystery over shootings near Lake Annecy, France

A multiple shooting in a car park near Lake Annecy has shocked and mystified people in the French holiday destination.
Here the BBC News website pieces together what we know of the crime that left four adults dead, a child badly injured and a little girl traumatised.
Where did the shootings take place?
In an isolated forest car park, 4km (2.5 miles) from the nearest habitation. The nearest village is the hamlet of Chevaline, located in countryside popular with walkers and campers near the lake in France's Alpine region of Haute Savoie.
Who were the victims in the car?
Saad al-Hilli, an Iraqi-born British citizen from the English county of Surrey, was found dead in his BMW car along with the bodies of his wife Iqbal and a second woman, described by French police as elderly. The elderly woman had a Swedish passport, French prosecutor Eric Maillaud said, while Mr Hilli's wife held an Iraqi passport. Their daughter Zainab, seven, was found shot and beaten. Another daughter Zeena, four, was found hiding under bodies in the car. While physically unscathed, she was "completely in shock and completely frozen", Mr Maillaud said.
Who was the fourth person killed?
Close to the car, the body of a cyclist was found. He has been named by French officials as Sylvain Mollier, a 40-year-old father of three who worked at a firm in the area. A second cyclist, a British ex-RAF officer, discovered Mr Mollier's body after coming across the BMW.
When did the crime occur?
The British cyclist arrived at the scene at 15:50 (13:50 GMT) on Wednesday 5 September. The car's engine was still running and he recognised Mr Mollier as a cyclist who had overtaken him on the road. After tending to Zainab, who was outside the car with horrific head injuries, the British man phoned emergency services at 16:00. When police arrived they did not see Zeena. She was only found at midnight when forensics officers opened the car.
Are there any clues as to the killer or killers?
Several witnesses reported seeing a car speeding away from the scene around the time the attack took place. No arrests were made in the immediate aftermath of the attack nor did police report the discovery of any weapon at the scene. However, 15 spent, automatic pistol cartridges were found at the scene. "It was clearly an act of extreme savagery and it was obvious that whoever did this wanted to kill," said Mr Maillaud. He would not say if the nature of the attack suggested the work of a professional killer but said the victims had been "targeted" rather than shot in a hail of indiscriminate fire.
Has any motive been suggested for the attack?
At a news conference on the day after the killings, the French prosecutor said investigators had hypotheses but these were "just conjecture at the moment". Newspapers suggest that the cyclist may have arrived while the attacker or attackers were still at the scene and was killed as a witness to the crime. Amid press speculation that the attack may have been a case of mistaken identity linked to drugs, police said the car park was not known as a haunt of dealers, regional newspaper Le Dauphine Libere reports.
Had the Hilli family been in France long?
They arrived on Monday and had been due to leave by the end of the week, Le Dauphine Libere reports. Other reports say they arrived at the end of August. They were staying in a caravan at a campsite, Le Solitaire du Lac, in St Jorioz, 8km from Chevaline. A woman at the campsite, whose name was not given, said she had seen the two women out picking apples with the two little girls earlier on Wednesday. "It was the first year that they had been seen here," she added.
Why did it take eight hours to find Zeena?
The police who sealed off the crime scene were under orders not to disturb the bodies in the car before a forensics team arrived, Mr Maillaud said. Given the gravity of the crime, officers were dispatched from Paris, he said. Furthermore, the first police at the scene did not know there were two children in the family group until a link was established with the campsite. "Firemen, technicians and doctors all looked into the car through the holes in the windows but none of them saw the girl," said Lt-Col Benoit Vinnemann of the local gendarmerie. A helicopter with thermal imaging was also used to inspect the scene but it did not detect Zeena either.
What is the condition of the two girls?
Zainab was shot in the shoulder and beaten around the head, the French prosecutor said. "She was struck very violently and apparently has skull fractures," he added. She has been placed in an induced coma in a hospital in the city of Grenoble ahead of surgery. "Her life is not in danger but obviously she is no state to be interviewed," said Mr Maillaud. Zeena is "doing okay", he told reporters. As soon as investigators had opened the car door, she emerged, smiled and stretched out her arms. She spoke English but could not describe what had happened and was taken into police care.



France Shooting: Bullet-Ridden BMW Removed

Sky News - 5th September 2012

Police have removed the bullet-ridden BMW from the scene of a mystery shooting which left a British family dead in the French Alps. Detectives believe the gunman used an automatic weapon and may have been a professional killer.
They said three of the four people killed received bullet wounds to the centre of the forehead during the bloodshed near the village of Chevaline, near Lake Annecy, in the Haute-Savoie region. French President Francois Hollande, speaking at a press conference in London, where he was attending the Paralympic Games, said "everything will be done" to find the killer. The British husband and wife killed were named by neighbours as Saad and Iqbal al Hilli. Their two children, who survived the attack, were named as eight-year-old Zehab and four-year-old Zaina. Iraqi-born Mr al Hilli, 50, a skilled computer engineer from Claygate, Surrey, was found slumped over the wheel of his bullet-riddled red BMW estate with the engine still running. His wife and her mother, who has a Swedish passport, were found shot dead in the back.
Public prosecutor Eric Maillaud said a passing cyclist, a British former RAF officer on holiday, discovered the bodies and alerted emergency services.
He also found Zehab, who collapsed in front of him near the car. She had been violently beaten around the head and shot in the shoulder. She is now fighting for her life in an induced coma in a hospital in the city of Grenoble. Her sister Zaina was found alive hiding underneath the front passenger seat and legs of her mother - eight hours after the massacre. She has been admitted to another Grenoble hospital in "distress" and is receiving psychiatric care. Both girls, who go to school in Claygate, are being guarded by armed police. The body of a male cyclist - Sylvain Mollier, a father-of-three, from the nearby town of Ugines - was found near the BMW. It is thought the factory worker inadvertently cycled into the scene of the attack, moments after overtaking the British cyclist. Mr Mollier was shot in the head, as was Mr al Hilli and his mother-in-law. Mr Maillaud described the shooting as "horrific and alarming" and "a gross act of savagery" during a press conference in Annecy. Mr al Hilli had been working as a freelance engineer for Guildford-based Surrey Satellite Technology after fleeing Saddam's Iraq, neighbours said. He and his family had been staying in a caravan at a campsite popular with UK tourists called Le Solitaire du Lac, in Saint Jorioz, since Monday. It is believed their neighbours at the campsite alerted police when they appeared to be missing.
No weapons were found at the scene of the shooting, which happened at around 3.40pm on Wednesday. Fifteen cartridges were found near the vehicle. Only the windows had been shot through, leading police to speculate it may have been the work of a professional hitman. Stephane Bouchet, from local newspaper Le Dauphine Libere, told Sky News a witness two miles from the car park saw a car driving very fast away from the scene around the time of the shooting.
Post-mortems are due to be carried out on Thursday or Friday. There are 60 police officers involved in the operation and the nearby area has been sealed off as investigations continue. Surrey Police said it was assisting the French authorities and liaising with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.





'I've got nothing to do with it': Brother of Iraq-born businessman executed with wife and mother-in-law in front of daughters in French Alps denies there was family feud over 'financial matters'

  • Father named as Saad Al-Hilli, a Baghdad-born businessman who lived with his family in Claygate, Surrey
  • He was killed alongside his wife Ikbal and her mother during caravan holiday to Lake Annecy, in eastern France
  • The Al-Hilli's seven-year-old daughter, Zainab, is in a coma after suffering fractured skull and a bullet in the shoulder
  • Her sister, Zeena, four, escaped unscathed after hiding beneath her mother's legs for eight hours
  • Cyclist Sylvain Mollier, 45, a father-of-three, was shot dead after disturbing the multiple killings
  • British and French police are investigating whether murders were professional hit
  • Mr Al-Hilli's brother denies family feud suggestions and says he has nothing to do with the killings
  • Forensics officers examine 15 bullet casings to see if family was targeted by more than one assassin
  • Police searching for man in dark shirt driving 4x4 that witnesses saw speeding away from the area

By Peter Allen and Graham Smith

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The older brother of the British father murdered in the Alps will be questioned today by French police about a possible family feud over a will.

Zaid Al-Hilli was expected to be asked about an alleged ‘inheritance dispute’ and ongoing quarrel after four detectives flew in from France to find out what lay behind Wednesday’s bloodbath.

But the 53-year-old businessman is not under arrest, is being treated as a witness and has already denied any involvement in the slaughter of his family to officers in Britain.

Scroll down for video

Saad Al-Hilli, 50, was ambushed with his family on Wednesday during a family caravanning trip. Neighbours confirmed this picture is of the murdered father
A family friend who knew Saad from the age of 15 brings flowers to his Claygate home

Victim: Saad Al-Hilli, 50, was ambushed with his family on Wednesday during a family caravanning trip. A family friend (right) who knew Mr Al-Hilli from the age of 15 brings flowers to the family home in Claygate, Surrey, this afternoon

Devastated: Two women, who identified themselves as family friends cry as they stand at the front gate of the Al-Hilli home

Devastated: Two women, who identified themselves as family friends cry as they stand at the front gate of the Al-Hilli home

He walked into a police station near his Surrey home to reject any suggestions of a feud with his brother, Saad.

Today, three French detectives are expected to put their questions to Zaid Al-Hilli via Surrey police officers. They also plan to search his home, and his dead brother’s house.

Public prosecutor Eric Maillaud said yesterday that there had been an ‘inheritance dispute’ over the estate of their late father Kadhim, who died about a year ago.

 

Mr Maillaud said: ‘It seems that there was a dispute between the two brothers about money. This seems to be credible information coming from the British police.

‘The brother will have to be questioned at length. Every lead will be meticulously followed. What is important is for us to listen to this brother procedurally.’

He said Saad Al-Hilli’s life would be examined in detail. ‘His life, his job – I heard he was the owner of three companies – all of that is the sort of thing that we have to find out about in England,’ he said.

Properties in France, Switzerland, Spain and Iraq were said to be at the heart of the ongoing quarrel between Saad Al-Hilli and his brother Zaid.

The brothers used to run a technical design company called  Shtech together, but two years ago Zaid was replaced as company secretary by Saad’s wife Iqbal.

Around the same time, Zaid moved out of the £1million detached house in upmarket Claygate, Surrey, where his brother and family lived, according to neighbours. Zaid owns a £290,000 semi-detached house in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, but is believed to be living in Chessington, which is also near Claygate.

At a press conference yesterday, Mr Maillaud said Zaid Al-Hilli had ‘spontaneously presented himself’ to Surrey police on Thursday seeking information after hearing about the killings on the news.

He went back again yesterday morning after hearing about the brotherly ‘conflict’ on the news, said Mr Maillaud, adding: ‘He said no, there was no conflict, there was no dispute with his brother.’

He said Zaid was a ‘free man’ but would be interviewed as a ‘key witness’ as detectives try to solve the riddle of the murders.

Other inquiries will focus on Saad Al-Hilli’s technical work and his links to Iraq, where his family fled Saddam Hussein’s regime in the 1970s. Mr Al-Hilli was known to the British intelligence services, who have taken a keen interest in the investigation.

A finger points to a blood-spattered rock found by the murder scene today

A finger points to a blood-spattered rock found by the murder scene today

The shocking triple murder has made the headlines around the world

The shocking triple murder has made the headlines around the world

Secluded: A journalist looks at the spot where the Al-Hilli family car was found with three bodies, and a cowering four-year-old girl, inside

Secluded: A journalist looks at the spot where the Al-Hilli family car was found with three bodies, and a cowering four-year-old girl, inside

Country lane: Reporters walk towards the tiny dirt lay-by where the massacre took place

Country lane: Reporters walk towards the tiny dirt lay-by where the massacre took place

Taped-off: Detectives prepare to remove the family car from the murder scene scene yesterday

Taped-off: Detectives prepare to remove the family car from the murder scene scene yesterday

Tribute: A woman hands over flowers and a candle to police at the Al-Hilli family home in Claygate, Surrey, today

Tribute: A woman hands over flowers and a candle to police at the Al-Hilli family home in Claygate, Surrey, today

Last night Zaid Al-Hilli’s brother-in-law, Damien O’Reilly, said: ‘There’s no way he is involved.’

Mr O’Reilly, 41, whose sister Geraldine was married to Zaid until her death from ovarian cancer, said: ‘Zaid is the last person who could be behind this.

‘He’s a very decent bloke. When my sister was dying from cancer he was hugely supportive and caring. He was devastated by her death and is still coming to terms with it.’

Zaid and Geraldine had one child, Sean O’Reilly-Hilli, 28, a plumber who lives in the Walton-on-Thames house.

Mr Maillaud said up to three detectives would be arriving in London this morning, where they will liaise with Scotland Yard officers. One is arriving today to deal with any diplomatic problems which might arise.

Mr Maillaud said that each corpse was found with at least three bullets, and 'at least one bullet to the head'.

The prosecutor said he believed that more than one murderer was involved in the atrocity.

Speaking before a press briefing in Annecy, Mr Maillaud said the 'case looks more and more like an ambush' and that more than one gunman was likely to have been involved.

Mr Maillaud said: 'It seems humanly difficult that so many shots could be fired by one man. Instinct tells us there was more than one suspect.'

He confirmed that a green 4x4 and a motorbike were the only two vehicles seen by the unnamed British cyclist who reported the murders.

The prosecutor also revealed that Mr Al-Hilli's four-year-old daughter Zeena, who survived by hiding under her mother, had spoken to police about the attack, describing what Mr Maillaud said was the 'fury' and 'terror' of a massacre during which 25 bullets were fired at the victims.

Iraqi-born Mr Al-Hilli, 50, was gunned down in his car alongside his dentist wife Iqbal, and her 77-year-old mother.

Mr Al-Hilli and one of the women were shot in the head along with a French cyclist who apparently stumbled across the attack.

The couple's children, Zeena and her sister Zainab, seven, are apparently the only witnesses to the shootings on an isolated road and are now under police protection.

Julian Stedman, Mr Al-Hilli's accountant, today said that his client had removed his brother Zaid from the company they set up

Julian Stedman, Mr Al-Hilli's accountant, today said that his client had removed his brother Zaid from the company they set up

But Zeena had told police she was with her mother and father when the attack happened but she did not see anything because she 'dived under her mother's legs' when the shooting began.

Her elder sister is in a medically induced coma to aid her recovery as painlessly as possible and give her body time to heal.

Mr Maillaud said the nearest CCTV cameras to the scene of the crime were 30kms away.

Instructing judges Michel Mollin and Christine de Curraize are now leading the enquiry into the crime.

The chief executive of a company Mr Al-Hilli worked for paid tribute to him this afternoon.

Dr Matt Perkins, from Surrey Satellite Technology in Guildford, said he was deeply shocked and saddened at the death of the mechanical design engineer, who had worked as a contractor for the company since November 2010.

He said: 'Saad's colleagues will remember him as an experienced and committed engineer who worked as part of a tightly knit team.

'He was a personal friend to many of our staff here. Saad will be greatly missed and our thoughts are with his family and loved ones at this very difficult and traumatic time.

'We are a close family at SSTL and our staff are understandably very upset by this event.'

Eric Maillaud, the prosecutor leading the investigation into the bloodbath, had earlier said that 'evidence from Britain' pointed towards the brothers being involved in 'financial problems'.

'It seems that there was a dispute between the two brothers about money,' said Mr Maillaud.

Saad Al-Hilli's accountant Julian Stedman also revealed that Zaid had been replaced as secretary of Saad's company SH Tech roughly two years ago by his brother's wife Ikbal, who was also executed.

Zaid was replaced around February last year, around the same time that friends claim that he moved out of the families £1million family home in Claygate, Surrey.

Mr Stedman said: 'Through Stedman and Co we have been acting for Saad since 2004.

'His brother was company secretary which is a purely nominal role and Ikbal replaced him as company secretary, it must have been a couple of years ago.

'He never mentioned anything about a family feud.'

Were there two hitmen?

Neighbourhood in shock: Police officers stand guard outside the Al-Hilli family home in Claygate today

Neighbourhood in shock: Police officers stand guard outside the Al-Hilli family home in Claygate today

Zaid Al-Hilli's home in Kingston, Surrey. He visited his nearest police station and 'presented himself spontaneously' to officers 'as a matter of course' after learning of his brother's murder

Zaid Al-Hilli's home in Kingston, Surrey. He visited his nearest police station and 'presented himself spontaneously' to officers 'as a matter of course' after learning of his brother's murder

Bullet-ridden: Police gather evidence from the BMW estate where Mr Al-Hilli and his family were massacred

Bullet-ridden: Police gather evidence from the BMW estate where Mr Al-Hilli and his family were massacred

Delayed reaction: Several hours after police arrived on scene, Mr Al-Hilli's four-year-old daughter Zeena was found alive huddling under her mother's legs inside the car

Delayed reaction: Several hours after police arrived on scene, Mr Al-Hilli's four-year-old daughter Zeena was found alive huddling under her mother's legs inside the car

Property in France, Switzerland, Spain and Iraq were said to be at the centre of an alleged on-going quarrel between Mr Al-Hilli and his brother, who lives with his family in Kingston-upon-Thames.

Sylvie Lecoeur said that she witnessed a speeding car near the French Alpine murder scene

Sylvie Lecoeur said that she witnessed a speeding car near the French Alpine murder scene

It came as French police today said they are looking for a 'man in a black shirt' driving a Peugeot 4x4 seen speeding away from the scene of the massacre.

The unidentified British cyclist who discovered the dead bodies on the edge of the village of Chevaline shortly before 4pm has told detectives he saw a 'green 4x4' and motorbike speeding towards the murder scene before his arrival.

A detective told French channel M6: 'He has a keen sense of observation. This could help us greatly.'

This is the first time that the possibility of an assassin using a motorbike has been raised.

A young woman who was also in the area has told police that she saw a 'white Peugeot 206 or 306' a few minutes later, along the same road and heading towards the village of Horses.

She said it was being driven extremely fast by 'a man in a black shirt' who had to swerve suddenly to avoid hitting her own car. 

Peugeot makes 4x4s in both the 206 and 306 range, leading to the possibility that both witnesses saw the same car, despite the difference in colour.

More details have emerged suggesting that the Al-Hillis may have been targeted by more than one professional assassin.

Detectives revealed that three of the four murder victims were hit by two bullets each - while a cyclist who is thought to have stumbled across the scene of the carnage was hit five times.

The fact that intense gunfire was heard for less than 30 seconds - and it was so brutally effective - strengthens the theory of experienced hit men being responsible.

Mr Al-Hilli, 50, was initially shot once in the forehead as he sat at the wheel of the BMW estate car he had used to drive his family to a caravan holiday to Lake Annecy, in eastern France.

On the move: French police escort the car in which the British family was murdered away from the area

On the move: French police escort the car in which the British family was murdered away from the area

How the brutal slaying of the family in the French Alps unfolded

Sealed off: A cyclist speaks to police blocking access to the road to La Combe d'Ire in Chevaline today

Sealed off: A cyclist speaks to police blocking access to the road to La Combe d'Ire in Chevaline today

Hunt for clues: French police inspect a drain under the road to the murder scene at Cheverlaine near Annecy

Hunt for clues: French police inspect a drain under the road to the murder scene at Cheverlaine near Annecy

Then a second 'coup de grace' bullet was apparently used to make sure that Mr Al-Hilli was indeed dead.

This is the classic modus operandi of gunmen the world over who are contracted to kill people, whether working for criminal gangs, terrorist groups, or security services.

Mr Al-Hilli, his wife Ikbal, and her 77-year-old mother were shot twice through the car's windows, with not a single bullet wasted.

Sylvain Mollier, a 45-year-old father-of-three who arrived at the scene by bike, is likely to have disturbed the multiple killings, and thus would have made a more difficult target.

An investigating source confirmed to French media that all those in the car 'received two bullets each', while Mr Mollier 'was hit five times'.

The Al-Hilli's seven-year-old daughter, Zainab, suffered a fractured skull and a bullet in the shoulder.

Her four-year-old sister, Zeena, was the only member of the family to escape unscathed after hiding underneath her mother's legs.

It was to be a full eight hours before police eventually found her following the murders, which took place just before 4pm on Wednesday, suggesting that the gunmen also had no idea that she was there.

A postmortem on the bodies is expected to take place later today.

Forensic and ballistic experts are examining the 15 bullet casings found at the scene. They hope to find out whether there was more than one weapon being fired - and therefore if there was more than one killer - and maybe even identify DNA samples.

Last night, a family friend, Zaid Alabdi, 48, said there was a row centred around money and properties in the UK, Spain and France following the death of Mr Al-Hilli's father a year ago.

He said: 'They're a lovely family who worked hard and had no enemies. This may well not be relevant but it is the only problem I can think of in their lives.'

The Al-Hilli family lived in a £1million home in Claygate, Surrey.

London link: Police officers stand guard outside the Al-Hilli family home in Claygate this morning

London link: Police officers stand guard outside the Al-Hilli family home in Claygate this morning

GV of AMS accountancy in Swindon the registered address of the business of Saad Al-hilli
'Bright kid': Mr Al Hilli worked at Swindon-based aerial photography company, AMS 1087, which is linked to this accountancy business

'Bright kid': Mr Al Hilli was company secretary at Swindon-based aerial photography company, AMS 1087, which is linked to this accountancy business

Massive investigation: French police question local residents close to the spot where the massacre happened

Massive investigation: French police question local residents close to the spot where the massacre happened

One neighbour, Jack Saltman, fuelled the mystery by saying: 'I know one little thing which I am not prepared to speak about at the moment. He told me about a problem he had. I have told the police what I know.'

And Julian Stedman, Mr Al-Hilli's accountant, said: 'They were shot through the head so that sounds like a professional killing, which is really very worrying.

'A casual killer would not do that. The reason for that – I haven't a clue.'

The tragedy being triggered by a family feud is just one theory that investigators in France and Britain are pursuing.

FRENCH POLICE 'SHOULD HAVE CHECKED FOR SIGNS OF LIFE', SAY UK FORENSICS EXPERTS

Forensic experts said the first job for police who arrived at the crime scene should have been to check for survivors.

But it could be that the first officers called to the rural beauty spot in the French countryside simply 'panicked' when confronted with the horror.

In the UK, a doctor would be called to certify death - doing so, in this instance, could have alerted officers that the child was alive amidst the carnage in the car.

Jim Fraser, professor of forensic science at the University of Strathclyde, said the first responsibility for officers confronted with such a crime scene is to check the victims for signs of life.

It has been known for victims even with gunshot wounds to the head to live for hours and survive if they get emergency treatment.

He said: 'The overriding responsibility to the first responder at a crime scene, in the UK, would be to ensure that all individuals present are accounted for, their health and welfare, with an initial but thorough look at the crime scene.'

Prof Fraser said of such multiple death crimes: 'It's a pretty horrible scene - not for the faint-hearted.'

Forensic experts say it is a fiction to think murder scenes are preserved in pristine condition until they are examined by crime scene investigators.

Only after police have carried out their duty to preserve life and certify death do they 'freeze the scene'.


It also today emerged that Mr Al-Hilli was known to the intelligence services. He was born in Iraq and was put under Special Branch surveillance during the second Gulf War.

Neighbour Philip Murphy said of the £1million property in Claygate: 'It was a family house, it was an extended family house and he took it over when his mother died ten years ago.

'I think his brother moved the last of his stuff out 18 months ago.

'Their father had been living in Spain as it is warmer there but then he came back for a little while and was living in the bedroom the brother had been living in so he couldn't have been there then.

'Then the father went back to Spain and died about a year ago.'

Talking of Mr Al-Hilli's links to the Middle-East, he added: 'I know he went out to Baghdad a couple of years ago and sought out his old family home as he still had the deeds, but he wasn't very impressed. It was being used as a barracks by the military I think.

'Eventually he sold it on for pennies as it was worthless.

'He wasn't politically active in any way, he had opinions on things, but he was a moderate Muslim and a moderate socialist.'

With both children under armed guard in hospital, pictures of the extraordinary scene in the forest near Lake Annecy emerged showing the bullet-riddled BMW estate car. Spent cartridges littered the area around it.

Mr Al-Hilli earned up to £28 an hour as a freelance engineer and his CV reveals he worked on projects including designing a 'plasma generator' for a company called Surrey NanoSystems Ltd.

Before that he helped design a satellite for Surrey Satellite Technology, based in Guildford, and ten years ago he worked for another company engineering parts for the 'aircraft, military and medical industries'.

It is understood that Mr Al-Hilli has been known to British intelligence officials for around 20 years.

In 2003, during the U.S. and British invasion of Iraq, officers working with the intelligence services mounted a surveillance operation on his home for several weeks, a neighbour who hosted them told the Mail.

The internet is awash with speculation – impossible to verify – that Mr Al-Hilli may have been working in some capacity in the spy world. He arrived in Britain in the late 1970s and was educated to degree level.

Intelligence officers from the British Embassy in Paris are said to have been at the scene of the murder hours after it happened at 4pm (3pm UK time) on Wednesday.

They were tipped off by contacts in the French Interior Ministry as soon as the identity of the car's owner was confirmed.

Police inspect Le Solitaire du Lac campsite at Saint-Jorioz, where the murdered family were staying

Police inspect Le Solitaire du Lac campsite at Saint-Jorioz, where the murdered family were staying

Sealed off: Forensic experts have been examining the caravan for any clue into the killings

Sealed off: Forensic experts have been examining the caravan for any clue into the killings

Sir Peter Ricketts, the British ambassador to France, this morning said the elder girl was still 'seriously ill' but in a stable condition in hospital.

He said both sisters would be looked after by British consular staff until members of their family could be brought to France.

Sir Peter said: 'We're all determined to get to the bottom of this as soon as we can.

'Everybody shares the same determination that the perpetrators of this awful crime are brought to justice as soon as possible.

'This is particularly violent and brutal, but also has this heart-rending dimension of the two small girls. It's a unique case in my experience.'

Last night David Cameron described the deaths as 'terrible', adding: 'I have spoken to the British Ambassador in France and consular staff are working very hard so that we do everything we can... and to find out what happened in this very tragic case.

'Obviously the faster we can get to the bottom of what happened, the better.'

French President Francois Hollande pledged that the authorities would do their 'utmost to find the perpetrators'.

French police are facing growing incredulity that four-year-old Zeena was left in the car with the corpses of her family for eight hours, but justified it by saying they did not want to disturb the crime scene.

Public prosecutor Eric Maillaud said she was 'terrorised, immobile, in the midst of the bodies'.

He said: 'We discovered the little girl that nobody had seen, because she hadn't moved, completely in shock and completely frozen.'

He said the girl's older sister – beaten three times over the head – 'seems to be pulling through', though she has a fractured skull.

He described the murders as an 'act of gross savagery'.

A British cyclist who had been in the RAF stumbled upon the scene after originally being overtaken by Mr Mollier a few minutes earlier.

The first thing the cyclist saw was the bloodied figure of Zainab stumbling about in the road next to the BMW, which still had the engine running.

Police said the motive for the attack remained a mystery but revealed there were signs of a vehicle braking at the scene.

Investigators are waiting for the green light from medical staff at Grenoble University Hospital to talk to Zainab.

Asked again today whether he thought it was a professional killing, Mr Maillaud would only say: 'They were people who certainly wanted to kill people and they were not scared of taking a life.'

He refused to identify the weapon used, arguing that the police did not want to reveal everything they know to the killers.

VIDEO: British holidaymaker on a bike describes what he saw at the scene... 

 

VIDEO: British PM and French President vow to do all they can to catch those responsible... 



Terrified, the little girl cowered under her murdered mother's skirt. Why didn't police find her for 8 hours?

By Nick Fagge, Claire ELLICOT and SAM GREENHILL

When police eventually prised open the rear door of the BMW estate, four-year-old Zeena Al-Hilli was 'frozen stiff with terror' and cowering under her dead mother's skirt.

Her first words as she was led away from the car were: 'Where is Mummy? I want my Mummy!'

But after that instinctive outburst, it was difficult to coax any more words from a child who by this time 'could not tell the difference between the good guys and bad guys'.

Sombre: One camper said the atmosphere at the site was 'heavy, nobody is speaking'

Sombre: One camper said the atmosphere at the site was 'heavy, nobody is speaking'

Reported missing: The family were believed to have been staying at this campsite in Saint Jorioz

Reported missing: The family were believed to have been staying at this campsite in Saint Jorioz

Last night there was growing incredulity that a small child had been left inside the bloodbath of a car for an incredible eight hours until midnight on Wednesday.

For most of that time, French police were actually standing yards away but had simply assumed everyone in the car was dead.

It was only when they interviewed fellow holidaymakers at the campsite where the family were staying that police realised they should have been looking for two girls after all. They then found that Zeena, too young to understand what had been going on, had pitifully clung to her mother's body all evening.

Her father and grandmother were also dead in the car while her elder sister Zainab had already been airlifted to hospital to save her life. But after all the 'noises and shouting' – her words to describe the moment a hitman slaughtered her family – traumatised Zeena had stayed completely silent, daring not move.

Zeena and seven-year-old Zainab – who is thought to have been pistol-whipped in the attack – are the only survivors of the bloodbath. In a hail of gunfire, the three adults were summarily executed along with a passing cyclist with precision shots to their foreheads.

After the alarm was raised by another cyclist, police were on the scene within minutes, and found seriously-injured Zainab bleeding near the car. She was airlifted to hospital in Grenoble for life-saving surgery on her fractured skull.

Rural region: A herd of cows this morning walks past the vehicles owned by the world's media that are parked on the side of the road near the shooting scene

Rural region: A herd of cows this morning walks past the vehicles owned by the world's media that are parked on the side of the road near the shooting scene

Killed: Police believe the cyclist was shot dead when he stumbled on the scene of mass murder

Killed: Police believe the cyclist was shot dead when he stumbled on the scene of mass murder

Giving more details of the murders yesterday, French officials described the moment her little sister was finally rescued hours later.

Public prosecutor Eric Millaud said: 'When our detectives went into the car, they discovered a little girl, who was frozen stiff and uninjured.

'She had stayed beside her mother's body for almost eight hours, and had not moved during all this time.

'She spoke a little in English, saying she had heard noises and shouting, but did not say any more. She is only four years old. She was taken away and put under protection

'She could not tell the difference between the good guys and bad guys.'

Lieutenant-Colonel Benoit Vinnemann justified the police's extraordinary failure to find Zeena sooner, saying that they had not wanted to disrupt the crime scene.

They feared vital evidence would be lost if they examined the car before forensic experts arrived from Paris.

Because there was only one child seat fitted in the BMW 5-series estate, they wrongly assumed Zainab had been the only youngster in the car.

Local prosecutor Eric Maillaud meets the press on the road leading to the scene - he today confirmed British police will question Mr Al-Milli's brother

Local prosecutor Eric Maillaud meets the press on the road leading to the scene - he today confirmed British police will question Mr Al-Milli's brother

CALLS FOR GREATER GUN CONTROL IN FRANCE AFTER MASSIVE INFLUX OF WEAPONS FROM EASTERN EUROPE

Gun control has shot to the top of the political agenda in France in recent years because of massive influx of weapons from Eastern Europe.

Largely un-policed border crossings with countries like Italy have seen thousands of guns pouring into major cities over the past few decades from countries like Serbia and the Ukraine.

This has led to a huge increase in the number of criminals brandishing weapons, especially drugs gangs and ones linked to the Italian and  Russian mafia.

Officially two million members of the French population, including hunters and sportsmen, are allowed guns, but they are strictly licensed.

But in 2010 a total of 2710 guns were seized by police – representing a 79 per cent increase on 2009.

A parliamentary commission last year concluded that the fall of the Soviet Union, and the end of the Balkans’ Wars, in the 1990s had let to a glut of weapons, made of which had made their way to the west.

On March 6, just five days before Merah committed his first murder, a bill enforcing tougher penalties for those caught selling guns illegally became law. It means that anyone now found guilty of gun trafficking can get up to seven years in prison, and a fine equivalent to £75,000.

There was outrage earlier this year when Mohammed Merah, a 23-year-old French Algerian, went on shooting rampage around the south west city of Toulouse which left seven dead.

Despite having known links with terrorist groups linked to Al-Qaeda, Merah had managed to easily get hold of an Uzi submachine gun, a Colt Python pistol, a shotgun, and three .45-caliber pistols.

All are thought to have been bought for a few hundred euros each on France’s black weapons market. The current price for a Kalashnikov in the crime-ridden Mediterranean city of Marseille is around £500.

Claude Bodin, a conservative MP who co-authored the bill, said it aimed to ‘give the judiciary the resources to punish heavily all those who own guns illegally and use them.’

The Merah killings, and ones like the slaughter which has taken place in the Alps this week, will now lead for calls for even greater


At one stage a helicopter equipped with thermal cameras flew over the BMW, but failed to detect the small survivor.

This is thought to be because she was hidden under her mother's body, which would still have been emitting some heat.

In fact, the penny dropped only when a fellow holidaymaker at the lakeside Le Solitaire du Lac campsite told police the family had two children.

Lt-Col Vinnemann said: 'Our role was to preserve the crime scene. To search the car thoroughly would have to lead to the loss of fundamental ballistic evidence.'

He said that when the officers realised their mistake, three detectives were helicoptered to the scene with others following in a car.

They arrived around midnight, and 'within ten minutes they had found the second young girl', he said. 'The girl was found under her mother's skirt in amongst travel bags. She was glad to see someone. She immediately asked where her family was. The officers spoke to her in English.

'She is now being cared for in hospital. Physically, she is doing very well.'

Officers are now desperately hoping Zeena and Zainab will be able to tell them what happened.

Yesterday tourists at the campsite where the family were staying spoke of their shock at what happened.

Dutch woman Sandy Rombout, 39, said the Al-Hillis had arrived at the site on the shores of Lake Annecy at around 4pm on Monday in their dark-red BMW, which had a mountain bike on a roof rack.

'They had a small caravan and pitched a large tent to one side and a second tent at the back,' she said.

'They seemed like a normal nice family. The kids were playing outside the caravan and the dad came out and was showing the younger one how to ride her bike.

'They were very friendly and said hello to people. We saw them sitting in their tent and also having a barbecue outside at night.'

Another Dutch visitor said the family seemed to have problems with their car because every day he saw the father pumping air into the right-hand rear tyre of the BMW.

He said the grandmother had been picking fallen apples and giving them to the children. 'They were very friendly and the children played with the other kids in the play area. I heard them speaking English outside the caravan but they also spoke what I thought was Arabic inside.'


British cyclist saved battered daughter's life

By Nick Fagge

An RAF veteran and keen cyclist almost certainly saved the life of seven-year-old Zainab in the moments after the forest murders.

The Briton was following a popular cycling route around the lake and into the surrounding countryside when he came across the horrific scenes near the village of Chevaline.

The unidentified man, who also provided police with vital evidence of vehicles leaving the scene, was described as a hero. Prosecutor Eric Maillaud said: 'He should be congratulated on his swift actions.'

Tourist destination: Lake Annecy in France's Haute-Savoie region is a magnet for British holidaymakers

Tourist destination: Lake Annecy in France's Haute-Savoie region is a magnet for British holidaymakers

The cyclist, who has a holiday home in the area, noticed the British-registered BMW estate in the forest car park and went to investigate.

He discovered the engine was running before he spotted a girl near the front of the vehicle fall to the ground. He immediately put her in the recovery position and called the emergency services from his mobile phone at 3.48pm on Wednesday.

But he grasped the full extent of the horror only after he smashed the driver's side window to reach in and turn off the engine.

This was when he saw the bodies – the man at the steering wheel and two women in the back – two shot in the face. Then he saw a cyclist slumped on the ground near his bike, also shot dead.

This same man had overtaken him only moments earlier on his bike ride.

Lt Col Benoit Vinnemann of the Chambery gendarmes, said: 'The main witness, a cyclist who discovered the grisly scene, said he was overtaken by another cyclist on the climb that leads to the parking lot where the shooting took place.

'Arriving there, he found the cyclist on the ground with gunshot wounds near a car. In the vehicle, a man and two women, has also been shot.

'On the other side of the car, a child of six-to-eight years old was alive. He placed her in the recovery position until help arrived. She had been very badly beaten.'

Idyllic: The attack took place close to Doussard, which is hugely popular with British tourists during the summer months

Idyllic: The attack took place close to Doussard, which is hugely popular with British tourists during the summer months

Lt-Col Vinnemann said that the Briton had seen 'various cars leaving the scene including a 4x4'.

Prosecutor Maillaud said the ordeal of what the RAF man had witnessed had left him in 'a great deal of shock'.

Peter Ricketts, the British Ambassador to France, said: 'He appears to have been extremely professional. If he needs any support we are here to help.'

The murdered French cyclist, Sylvain Mollier, 45, was a father-of-three from nearby Ugine. He was on paternity leave from his job at a company producing stainless steel products.

His wife alerted police when he failed to return home from his bike ride. Prosecutor Maillaud said: 'It would appear he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.'

Zainab and her four-year-old sister Zeena were yesterday under armed guard at Grenoble University Hospital.

Following the attack, in which Zainab is believed to have been pistol-whipped, doctors induced a coma but she is believed to be out of danger and her condition has stabilised. Zeena is receiving psychiatric care.

Chilling echo of Rachel Nickell case

By MICHAEL SEAMARK

Chilling echo: Rachel Nickell, who was brutally murdered on Wimbledon Common

Chilling echo: Rachel Nickell, who was brutally murdered on Wimbledon Common

The ordeal of four-year-old Zeena Al-Hilli has chilling echoes of the Rachel Nickell murder, when her son was left clinging to her body.

Alex Hanscombe was a month short of his third birthday when Miss Nickell was killed in front of him on Wimbledon Common in 1992.

The little boy, covered in blood, was found by a passer-by clinging to her, crying: 'Get up, mummy.'

Miss Nickell, 23, was stabbed 49 times and sexually assaulted by paranoid schizophrenic and serial rapist Robert Napper as she walked with Alex and their dog, Molly.

In an interview in the Daily Mail last year Alex, 23, said: 'You don't remember everything from when you are small, but you remember the big things – those that can change your life.

'I clearly remember walking in the park with my mother and Molly and being pushed over by a man, who then attacked my mother. I knew something bad was happening.

'I saw the knife in his hand and when I saw her lying on the ground covered in blood, I realised the consequences of that act. I wasn't quite three but, even so, I knew my mother was never coming back.'

Alex's father Andre took his son to France, then on to Spain, to escape the 'goldfish bowl' of public attention. He credits his father with giving him the security and protection he needed as he struggled to adapt to the loss of his mother.

Alex said: 'I have never been back to Wimbledon Common and I don't visit my mother's grave. If you are living in the past or the future it means you are not living in the moment.'

Alex, a talented guitarist who studied at music school, 'forgave' his mother's killer even before he knew who he was. 'Until you forgive, you can never move on with your life,' he said.

'I don't feel damaged by what happened. I had my mum for the first few years of my life – the most important ones – and being angry or upset isn't the way to go.'

Video: French police investigate family's campsite...



He fled Iraq as a boy, settled in Surrey and was spied on by the Special Branch: The extraordinary life of the engineer victim at the centre of the Alps shooting

  • Officers thought to be from Special Branch maintained constant surveillance on the aeronautical engineer and his family in 2003, said neighbour
  • Any operation on the family would almost certainly have been backed up by bugging devices within their detached home
  • Saad Al-Hilli's apparent family links to Saddam Hussein's ruling Ba'ath party in Iraq may be of significance

By Arthur Martin, Tom Kelly and Lucy Osborne

|

British police were said to have spent several weeks tracking the movements of Saad Al-Hilli at the start of the last Gulf War

British police were said to have spent several weeks tracking the movements of Saad Al-Hilli at the start of the last Gulf War

Stationed on a driveway just yards from their target's £1million home, British police were said to have spent several weeks tracking the movements of Saad Al-Hilli at the start of the last Gulf War.

Officers thought to be from Special Branch maintained constant surveillance on the aeronautical engineer and his family, regularly following Mr Al-Hilli – who fled Iraq as a boy – and his brother whenever they drove off.

Last night Philip Murphy, a neighbour in the wealthy village of Claygate, Surrey, recalled how police asked if they could use his driveway to spy on the massacre victims' mock-Tudor house.

The retired finance director said: 'I watched them from the window and they were watching Mr Al-Hilli and his brother.

'I thought they were from Special Branch. They would sit there all day in their parked car just looking at the house.

'When Mr Al-Hilli came out and drove off, they would follow him. It was all very odd. I never told the family they were being watched.'

The surveillance happened as the invasion of Iraq by US and British forces began in March 2003.

Any operation on the family would almost certainly have been backed up by bugging devices within their detached home.

Last night it remained unclear why a surveillance team would be sent to watch a man who, on the outside at least, was a respected engineer.

The home of murdered aeronautical engineer Saad Al Hilli, in Claygate, Surrey, was under police guard today

The home of murdered aeronautical engineer Saad Al Hilli, in Claygate, Surrey, was under police guard yesterday

Mr Al-Hilli, 50, a keen cyclist and badminton player, worked on a freelance basis for a satellite and aerospace technology company in Guildford.

 

He also owned a computer design company called SHTECH Ltd, which was formed in 2001, and was the company secretary for a Wiltshire-based aerial photography company in Swindon.

The dead man's apparent family links to Saddam Hussein's ruling Ba'ath party in Iraq may be of significance.

A close friend told how Mr Al-Hilli's father Kadhim, a former factory owner, and mother Fasiha fled Baghdad in the late 1970s. The friend told how Mr Al-Hilli's father had fallen out with the Ba'ath party and was forced to flee the country.

It was during this time that Saddam Hussein became powerful in Iraq before becoming its leader in 1979. Mr Al-Hilli came to Britain as a teenager and was educated at Pimlico comprehensive school in central London where he took O- and A-levels, specialising in maths, physics and technical drawing.

Last night Philip Murphy, a neighbour in the wealthy village of Claygate, Surrey, recalled how police asked if they could use his driveway to spy on the massacre victims' mock-Tudor house

Last night Philip Murphy, a neighbour in the wealthy village recalled how police asked if they could use his driveway to spy on the massacre victims' mock-Tudor house

He later took a degree in mechanical engineering and a computer qualification. His CV reveals that he was comfortable with using several software packages and had a string of jobs in the engineering field for the past 20 years. He became a British citizen in 2002.

Yesterday Jack Saltman, another neighbour, said Mr Al-Hilli had told how he was grappling with a 'personal problem' on August 29, the day the family left for France.

'He told me something about a problem he had,' Mr Saltman said. 'I told the police that I knew what this problem was but I still haven't been able to speak to them about it.

'I've known about it for several months now. I knew he had family in Iraq. He did say he was worried about their safety. He came around to see me the night before he went and asked me to keep an eye on the house. He wasn't particularly stressed. He was looking forward to taking the kids to France again.'

Mr Saltman declined to reveal the nature of the 'personal problem'.

Other neighbours in Claygate described Mr Al-Hilli as a devoted family man who 'had no enemies'.

George Aicolina said: 'This doesn't add up. He's no Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. I very much doubt the Establishment would want to get rid of him.

A close friend told how Mr Al-Hilli's father Kadhim and mother Fasiha fled Baghdad in the late 1970s

It remains unclear why a surveillance team would be sent to watch a man who, on the outside at least, was a respected engineer

'Every time I had a problem, I would go to him. He was a very clued-up person and a precise man.'

Mr Al-Hilli met his future wife Ikbal ten years ago while on holiday in Dubai.

The couple married a year later in Surrey. Mrs Al-Hilli, an Iraqi who trained as a dentist in Sweden, then moved into her husband's home in Claygate. There were just six people at their register office wedding in Weybridge and Mr Al-Hilli once wrote on the Friends Reunited website: 'I am very happily married with a seven-month-old daughter that has me wrapped around her little finger already.'

He recently sold his beloved Suzuki Bandit motorbike, writing ruefully in the for sale advert: 'Unfortunately it has to go as it is hardly used now with kids on the scene.'

Zainab was born in 2005 and attends nearby Claygate Primary School. Her younger sister Zeena was due to start in the 'reception year' of the same school next week.

The family loved travelling across Europe in their caravan and were understood to own a property in the Dordogne region of south-west France.

On this occasion, Mr Al-Hilli told neighbours how the family were going on a spur-of-the-moment two-week holiday to 'get some sunshine and cure his sore back'.

French police guard the road to the murder scene at Cheverlaine near Annecy in the Haute-Savoie region of south-eastern France where the victims of a quadruple murder were discovered

French police guard the road to the murder scene at Cheverlaine near Annecy in the Haute-Savoie region of south-eastern France where the victims of a quadruple murder were discovered

Mr Aicolina said: 'He met his wife in Dubai. He went there on holiday and he met her there. It was a great love affair. She was Iraqi by origin but her parents live in Sweden. She was practising dentistry in the Middle East and they met by chance I think.

'They were very, very close and loved the girls very much – a happy loving family, very caring.

'He was a nice neighbour. Bad things always happen to the wrong people.'

Julian Stedman, 67, who was Mr Al-Hilli's accountant, insisted his client was 'straight up'.

'I have been to the house quite a few times and had tea there, Middle Eastern style,' he said.

'I have known Saad, his wife Ikbal and his father as well. Saad and I had talks possibly once a week and longer ones once every month.

Police investigate the caravan of the shooting victims at Le Solitaire du Lac camp site yesterday

Police investigate the caravan of the shooting victims at Le Solitaire du Lac camp site yesterday

'Saad is very much a family man. He was very much in love with his wife and his daughters. He adores them. He is a very kind and gentle person.

'I have had a tremendous shock. He never talked about what he did in Iraq.

'I never thought something of this kind would happen to him and his family. I am very saddened – especially for the little girls who have been left behind.

'He was a straight-up guy. There was never any suggestion that he might be up to no good. His accounts were perfect.'

Neighbour Lorna Davey added: 'It's shocking. I can't believe it. They were just like everybody else – very friendly and with two sweet little girls. The family was very westernised. There was no hint of an accent.' 

See Daily Mail VIDEO: British PM and French President vow to do all they can... 


See Dail Mail Video: Scene of the murders and British tourist reaction





The English are waking up:' Gunman's cry before shooting dead one during attempted assassination of Quebec separatist politician

  • Parti Quebecois leader Pauline Marois rushed off stage after attacker fired
  • Shooter was seconds away from podium when he was seized by bodyguard
  • Police say 50-year-old man has been arrested

By Daniel Bates

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A gunman shouting ‘The English are waking up!’ shot dead one person and critically wounded another during the attempted assassination of a separatist Canadian politician.

Parti Québécois leader Pauline Marois was hauled offstage by security guards midway through her live TV victory speech when the attacker opened fire.

The 62-year-old shooter, who was wearing a mask and dark clothing, was seconds away from the podium when he was grabbed by an armed bodyguard.

Scroll down for video

Parti Quebecois

Parti Quebecois leader Pauline Marois is removed from the stage by police as she declares victory to supporters in Montreal on Tuesday

A suspect thought to be the gunman is arrested by police outside the Parti Quebecois victory rally in Montreal

A suspect thought to be the gunman is arrested by police outside the Parti Quebecois victory rally in Montreal

Parti Quebecois Leader Pauline Marois

Parti Quebecois quickly exited the stage after the deadly shooting

Marois, who has just been elected premier of Quebec, wants the French-speaking province to secede from Canada - and probably the Commonwealth too.

Police have revealed that she was the target but have not disclosed the gunman’ s identity.

 

The shooting has highlighted the troubled relationship that Quebec has with the rest of the Canada which has grown rancorous in recent years.

Marois inspires particularly strong feelings as she has vowed to ban government workers from wearing religious clothing like the hijab and stop French speaking people from going to English speaking colleges.

Some have even been calling for the outgoing Quebec Premier Jean Charest, a federalist, to be murdered and dumped in a car boot.

Parti Quebecois leader Pauline Marois

Marois is surrounded by police following a security breach as she returns to the stage to address supporters

Parti Quebecois Leader Pauline Marois declares victory

Parti Quebecois Leader Pauline Marois declares victory

The attack began on Tuesday night as Marois was speaking at a concert hall in Montreal to celebrate her win in the polls.

As the commotion broke out she was grabbed by plainclothes police with a concerned look on her face as she said: ‘What’s going on?’

Montreal police Commander Ian Lafreniere said that the gunman set off a Molotov Cocktail at the rear door after using it to enter the building.

The 48-year-old man who was shot dead has not been identified and the victim who survived, aged 27, is still in hospital, but is no longer in a critical condition.

A third person, a man in his 30s, had to be taken to hospital suffering from shock.

The suspect is from Quebec but police are not sure if he is an anglophone or francophone as he was using both languages.

Caught the gunman: The 50-year-old unidentified man was caught by police. His motive was unclear but while police dragged him away he yelled in French: 'The English are waking up!'

Caught the gunman: The 50-year-old unidentified man was caught by police. His motive was unclear but while police dragged him away he yelled in French: 'The English are waking up!'

Police said that the gunman lit a fire behind the Metropolis Theatre before he was arrested

Police said that the gunman lit a fire behind the Metropolis Theatre before he was arrested

One dead:

One dead: Police cordon off the rear outside an auditorium where a gunman shot and killed at least one person during the Parti Quebecois victory rally

Detectives have searched his car and interviewed witnesses but have not yet spoken to the shooter and refused to speculate as to his motives.

The reaction in Canada has been one of shock and in a statement translated from French Marois said: ‘My thoughts go out to the family and friends of the deceased.

‘As a result of this tragedy, all Quebecers who are grieving today in the face of such senseless violence’.

A statement issued by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office said: ‘We are disturbed by this violence and our thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones.’

Police on the scene: It was not clear whether the gunman intended to shoot Ms Marois whose party favours separation for the French-speaking province from Canada

Police on the scene: It was not clear whether the gunman intended to shoot Ms Marois whose party favours separation for the French-speaking province from Canada

Quebec first elected a separatist government in 1976 and has since repeatedly argued with the rest of the country, which speaks English as its first language.

Parti Québécois’s win against the Liberal incumbents means that a separatist government is back in power in the province for the first time in a decade.

If Quebec seceded from Canada it is unlikely it would remain in the Commonwealth due to the hardline attitude of Marois and her colleagues.

As a nation however, Canadians think well of the Royal family and during their visit to the country last year after their wedding, Prince William and Kate Middleton were given a very warm reception.

The people of Quebec rejected the last separatist referendum in 1995, although by a small margin.

VIDEO: Marois is rushed from stage, while police surround the area... 


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How I killed Bin Laden: The first amazing Navy SEAL account of how the world's most wanted terrorist was shot dead in front of his wives and petrified children


By Sharon Churcher

PUBLISHED: 22:38, 1 September 2012 

The full extraordinary story of the assassination of Osama Bin Laden has been revealed for the first time by a member of the elite team that killed the arch terrorist in his secret lair in Pakistan.

Bin Laden was shot in the head by a ‘point man’ from the crack US Navy Seals unit as the Al Qaeda leader peered out through his narrowly-opened bedroom door.

Bursting into his room, the Seals then fired more rounds into his body as he lay on the floor in his death throes and as two of his wives wailed beside him.

The gruesome last moments of the 9/11 mastermind are revealed in a book by retired Seal Matt Bissonnette who took part in the raid and made sure Bin Laden was dead.

Click here for video

The Navy SEAL Team 6 member who used the pseudonym Mark Owen to write No Easy Day

The Navy SEAL Team 6 member who used the pseudonym Mark Owen to write No Easy Day

Speaking out: Former Navy SEAL Matt Bissonnette appeared on US TV show 60 Minutes this week to discuss his book

Former Navy SEAL Matt Bissonnette talking to US TV show 60 Minutes this week about the Osama bin Laden Pakistan raid which he claims to be part of. CBS said they disguised his appearance for his safety

But the minute-by-minute account of the heart-stopping, top-secret raid has infuriated Pentagon lawyers who are demanding that its launch next week is cancelled.

Bissonnette, 36 – who uses the  pen-name Mark Owen – is accused of breaching a secrecy commitment that he signed when he left active duty last April. And it has incensed Islamic fundamentalists, who have posted online death threats against the author.

Owen’s detailed account in his book, No Easy Day, tells how, on a moonless night on May 1, 2011, 24 US Navy Seals left their base  in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, for Bin Laden’s one-acre walled compound in Abbottabad.

The Seals, who were to operate in teams of three, travelled in two Black Hawk helicopters.

They knew that, as well as the  terror chief, they could expect to find at the compound Khalid, one  of Bin Laden’s sons, and Ahmed  al-Kuwaiti and his brother Abrar  al-Kuwaiti, who had acted as couriers for Bin Laden.

Owen tells how the mission soon hit difficulties when the plan to ‘fast-rope’ the Seals from one of the helicopters into the compound had to be rapidly revised when one of the Black Hawks – with Owen inside – crash landed inside the courtyard. 

Target: A member of Seal Team Six shot and killed Osama bin Laden during the elite squad's daring raid of his compound in Abbotabad, Pakistan

Target: A member of Seal Team Six shot and killed Osama bin Laden during the elite squad's daring raid of his compound in Abbotabad, Pakistan

The other Black Hawk, which was supposed to fast-rope its passengers on to the roof of the main building in the compound, dropped them outside after seeing the crash. They were let inside by their shaken but uninjured comrades.

According to Owen’s book, they had 30 minutes to complete the  mission based on the amount of fuel the helicopters had been carrying.

Owen says his team headed towards a guesthouse in the compound where they knew Ahmed  al-Kuwaiti lived with his family. They also knew that the occupants had heard them coming.

The guesthouse was in darkness and had a set of metal double doors with windows at the top.

Owen describes kneeling at the side of the door while he attached an explosive charge. As one of his team headed towards the stairs that led to the roof of the guesthouse, AK-47 rounds from inside shattered the glass above the door, narrowly missing him and showering him in glass.

‘The first rounds always surprise the s*** out of you,’ he writes. Will, another member of Owen’s team, yelled in Arabic for al-Kuwaiti to come out while Owen returned fire. The door started to open and a woman called out. 

One floor at a time

Owen says that in the green glow of their night-vision goggles, the Seals could make out the figure of a woman clutching something in her arms. The first suspicion was that it was a bomb.

Owen recalls in his account how he started applying pressure to his trigger. Lasers on the Seals’ guns targeted the woman’s head – she could be dead in a second.

However the bundle was a baby. Al-Kuwaiti’s wife, Mariam, emerged with the infant and three more children behind her. Owen kept his weapon trained on her as she told them that Al-Kuwaiti was dead.

Owen says he spotted a pair of  feet lying in the doorway of a bedroom and that he shot the body of al-Kuwaiti several times to make sure. With the guesthouse secured, the Seals sprinted to the main compound. Bin Laden’s house was split into a duplex and his family lived on the second and third levels and had their own private entrance.

A team led by a Seal referred to in the book as Tom was to clear the first level, according to Owen. Again, the building was dark but the soldiers’ night-vision goggles revealed a long hallway with two doors opening off on each side.

The point man – the leading Seal – spotted a man’s head sticking out of the first room on the left. The point man shot him and he disappeared back into the room. When the team reached the doorway the man, later identified as Abrar al-Kuwaiti, was writhing on the floor. The Seals opened fire on him. Al-Kuwaiti’s wife Bushra, who jumped in the way to shield him, was also killed.

Owen says a woman and several children were huddled in the corner crying. An AK-47 was found in the room and Tom unloaded it while  the rest of the team searched the remaining rooms.

After one of the US troops blew up an iron gate blocking access to the second level, the Seals started filtering up a spiral staircase punctuated by small landings. When Owen reached the second level, he could see a body splayed out on its back on the landing above, between the second and third levels. One of the Seals had shot Khalid, one of Bin Laden’s sons, who had probably been living on the second floor.

Commando: A photo purported to be of Matt Bissonnette was published by Business Insider on Thursday. MailOnline has decided to blur the image

Commando: A photo purported to be of Matt Bissonnette was published by Business Insider on Thursday

By now, Owen writes, Seals were queuing up behind Owen on the staircase, and the second-level hallway already had sufficient troops to search and clear it, so he continued to the third level, up steps slick with blood and passing Khalid’s unused AK-47 propped up on a step.

‘We had planned for more of a fight,’ he writes. ‘For all the talk about suicide vests and being willing to shed blood for Allah, only one of the al-Kuwaiti brothers got off a barrage.’

He describes how, as he and his team slowly ascended the narrow stairwell, his ears strained to hear footsteps or the sound of a round being chambered. He was less than five steps from the top of the staircase when he heard shots.

He writes: ‘BOP. BOP. The point man had seen a man peeking out of the door on the right side of the hallway about ten feet in front of him. I couldn’t tell from my position if the rounds hit the target or not. The man disappeared into the dark room.’


They cautiously approached the room where they found two women, hysterically crying and standing over a man lying at the foot of a bed. The younger of the two women rushed at the point man who grabbed them both and herded them into a corner. Owen comments that had the women been wearing suicide vests, this action would have cost the soldier his life but saved those of his colleagues.

According to No Easy Day, the fallen man, wearing a white sleeveless T-shirt, tan trousers and a tan tunic, had been shot in the right side of his head.

‘Blood and brains spilled out of the side of his skull,’ writes Owen. ‘In his death throes, he was still twitching and convulsing.’

Owen and another Seal shot more rounds into his chest until he was motionless.

At least three children sat stunned in the corner of the room as the commandos cleared two small rooms just off the bedrooms. Other Seal teams cleared the rest of the third level until it was declared secure.

Guard: A policeman keeps guard outside the gates of the compound where the Al Qaeda leader was killed

Guard: A policeman keeps guard outside the gates of the compound where the Al Qaeda leader was killed

Owen and his comrades then examined the body.

He says: ‘The man’s face was mangled from at least one bullet wound and covered in blood. A hole in  his forehead collapsed the right side of his skull. His chest was torn up from where the bullets had entered his body.

He was lying in an ever-growing pool of blood. As I crouched down to take a closer look, Tom joined me.

‘ “I think this is our boy,” Tom said.’

Owen writes that Tom did not want to report over the radio that this was Bin Laden because he knew that call would be rapidly relayed to Washington where President Obama was listening. The Seals wanted to be sure first.

The dead man was the correct height and looked like the composite photos the Seals had been given. They wiped the blood from his face using a blanket from the bed and he looked more familiar but younger than expected. It transpired his beard had been dyed.

Owen says he took photos of Bin Laden’s full body and then his head.  ‘Pulling his beard to the right and then the left, I shot several profile pictures.’

Watching: In this undated image from video seized from bin Laden's compound, the Al-Qaeda chief watches a TV programme showing an image of President Obama

Watching: In this undated image from video seized from bin Laden's compound, the Al-Qaeda chief watches a TV programme showing an image of President Obama

Tension: The raid of bin Laden's Abottabad compound was watched by President Obama and his closest advisers in the Situation Room of the White House

Tension: The raid of bin Laden's Abottabad compound was watched by President Obama and his closest advisers in the Situation Room of the White House

He asked his colleague to hold Bin Laden’s ‘good eye’ open. ‘He reached down and peeled back the eyelid, exposing his now lifeless brown  eye. I zoomed in and shot a tight photo of it.’

Meanwhile other Seals were collecting computers, videos and notebooks and a team was preparing to blow up the crashed Black Hawk.

The remaining Black Hawk and a CH-47 Chinook helicopter, that had set up a forward refuelling point 15 minutes from the compound, and was carrying a ‘quick reaction force’ of additional troops, were circling the compound, using up precious fuel. Time was pressing.

Owen says a comrade, ‘Walt’, took DNA samples by dipping a swab in Bin Laden’s blood and used another to swab his mouth.

He tried jabbing a spring-loaded syringe provided by the CIA to  get a marrow sample from Bin  Laden’s thigh but the needle did  not work and he gave up after  several attempts.

Owen says two sets of DNA  samples and two sets of photographs were needed so that if one of the helicopters was shot down on its way back to Jalalabad, one set of evidence would survive.

Meanwhile, Seals were trying to get confirmation from Bin Laden’s wife, who had been wounded in the ankle, that the dead man was the Al Qaeda leader. She gave a series of aliases for him such as ‘the sheikh’.

Owen recalls how one Seal then approached the children outside on the balcony. ‘They were all sitting silently against the wall. Will knelt down and asked one of the girls, “Who is the man?”

‘The girl didn’t know to lie.’

‘ “Osama bin Laden.”

‘Will smiled.’

‘ “Are you sure that is Osama bin Laden?”

‘ “Yes,” the girl said.

‘ “OK,” he said. “Thanks.”

‘Back in the hallway, he grabbed one of the wives by her arms and gave her a good shake.

‘ “Stop f****** with me now,” Will said, more sternly than before. “Who is that in the bedroom?” ’

Mission: The Al Qaeda leader was killed at this compound in Abbottabad by US Special Forces

Mission: The Al Qaeda leader was killed at this compound in Abbottabad by U.S. Special Forces - and Matt Bissonette claims that if SEAL Team 6 had never made it there they were to explain that they were searching for an unmanned drone to their Pakistani allies

Owen continues: ‘She started to cry. More scared than anything else, she didn’t have any fight left.’

‘ “Osama,” she said.

‘“Osama what?” Will said, still holding her arm.’

‘ “Osama bin Laden,” she said.’

With dual confirmation, the Seals ‘called it in’ to Admiral McRaven in Jalalabad, who was keeping President Obama updated.

While the soldiers cleared the building of material that would provide useful intelligence, Owen watched two Seals drag Bin Laden’s body by his legs down the stairs.

Searching the tiny bathroom, Owen found a box of Just For Men hair dye, which he assumed was what Bin Laden used on his beard.

Owen records that he was surprised by how tidily Bin Laden kept his clothes. All of his T-shirts were neatly folded into squares and his clothes were hung evenly spaced.

He discovered a rifle and a pistol, neither of them loaded.

Cover: No Easy Day is scheduled for release on September 4

Cover: No Easy Day is scheduled for release on September 4

Owen writes about his surprise that Bin Laden ‘hadn’t even prepared a defence’. He says the terror leader had no intention of fighting, though he asked his followers for decades to wear suicide vests or fly planes into buildings.

He says: ‘In all of my deployments, we routinely saw this phenomenon. The higher up the food chain the targeted individual was, the bigger a pussy he was.’

He says leaders are less willing to fight and that it was always the young and impressionable who strapped on the explosives and blew themselves up.

He writes: ‘Did he [Bin Laden]  believe his own message? Was he willing to fight the war he asked for? I don’t think so. Otherwise, he would have at least gotten his gun and stood up for what he believed.

‘There is no honour in sending people to die for something you won’t even fight for yourself.’

The Seals had now been in the compound for 30 minutes and were reluctant to leave areas unsearched but had no choice.

Owen says Bin Laden’s body was put into a body bag. As many of the women and children as possible were herded into the guesthouse to protect them from the explosion when the Seals blew up the crashed helicopter.

Owen’s group of Seals, which had Bin Laden’s body, travelled on the remaining Black Hawk which, as a smaller, more manoeuvrable aircraft, had less of a chance of being shot down than the CH-47.

In the Black Hawk, one of the Seals had to sit on Bin Laden’s body which lay at Owen’s feet in the centre of the cabin.

At one point during the flight  to Afghanistan, he says, they searched the body again but found nothing and the Seal returned to his seat on Bin  Laden’s chest.

Despite having the body at his feet, Owen writes that he felt a sense of failure that the teams had left intelligence behind because they had run out of time.

Back at base in Jalalabad, the Seals loaded the body on to the back of a truck. It was to be transported to Bagram.

Admiral McRaven asked to see it. Owen says he pulled the body bag from the truck.

‘It flopped on the cement floor like a dead fish. Kneeling down,  I unzipped the bag. Almost all  of the colour had faded from his face and his skin looked ashy  and grey. The body was mushy and congealed blood had pooled at the bottom of the bag.

‘There’s your boy,’ I said.

t

This undated file photo shows al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, in Afghanistan. A firsthand account of the Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden contradicts previous accounts, raising questions as to whether the terror mastermind presented a clear threat when SEALs first fired upon him

As McRaven stood over him, Owen pulled Bin Laden’s head from side to side by his beard so that the admiral could see his profile.

A crowd gathered as McRaven knelt down to take a closer look, writes Owen.

McRaven pointed at a Seal and asked how tall he was. ‘Six-four,’ the Seal answered – the same height as Bin Laden.

McRaven then asked the soldier to lie down next to the body so he could compare heights.

Owen claims that the measurement was mostly a joke but reflected the fact that, because of his darker beard, Bin Laden did not look exactly as expected.

But there was no real doubt that the Seals had got their man.

Last night a Defence Department spokesman, Lt Col Todd Breasseale, told The Mail on  Sunday that the Pentagon and CIA were ‘shocked’ to learn only a week ago that 575,000 hardback copies of the book have already been printed.

It is already heading the  Amazon bestseller list, displacing the Fifty Shades of Grey series, and Bissonnette is due to appear on US current affairs TV show, 60 Minutes, within the next few days.

The Pentagon has notified Bissonnette that he faces possible civil and criminal charges unless he cancels the book launch.

l No Easy Day by Mark Owen with Kevin Maurer is published by Michael Joseph at £18.99.


See Daily Mail VIDEO: Pentagon anger at 'bin Laden book'


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