Alps murders: suspect in killing of al-Hilli family arrested in France

PARIS. KAZINFORM - French police have arrested a 48-year-old man who may be the motorcyclist spotted at the scene of the murder of the Iraqi-born British engineer Saad al-Hilli and two members of his family in the French Alps.
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The breakthrough came after police issued an efit of a man wearing an unusual model of motorcycle helmet. A motorcyclist was seen at the scene on an isolated road near Annecy minutes before Hilli, 50, his wife Iqbal, 47, and her mother Suhaila al-Allaf, 74, were murdered on 5 September 2012. A passing cyclist, Sylvain Mollier, 45, was also shot dead, Kazinform refers to The Guardian. Eric Maillaud, the Annecy prosecutor, said a suspect matching the efit had been "actively sought by police". But he cautioned that it was "impossible to say" at this stage whether the man in police custody may have anything to do with the killing. He also suggested there may be other arrests.

Hilli, who was staying in Annecy on a caravan site with his family, was shot after parking his BMW in a layby on a wooded road above the village of Chevaline. One of his daughters was seriously wounded in the attack. The other survived by hiding under the skirt of her mother who was on the back seat. The bodies were discovered by a British cyclist, Brett Martin.

Detectives were puzzled by the weapon used in the attack: an antique 7.65mm Luger P06 handgun, issued to the Swiss army and police in the 1920s and 1930s. The use of such a weapon would appear to rule out a professional killing.

According to the French media, the man being questioned on Tuesday possesses weapons and his home is being searched by police. He is said to be from a mountain village near Annecy. He is not known to have any connection to those killed.

The arrest came after police interviewed about 40 witnesses who came forward after an artist's impression was released in November of the motorcyclist who was seen in the area between 3.15pm and 3.40pm shortly before the killings. The helmet is only manufactured in small quantities and was recognised by witnesses because of its unusual side fastening.

The arrest may indicate a shift in the investigation back to local area. A dozen suspects whose phones had been detected in the area at the time of the murder have been interviewed and ruled out, according to media reports.

Until now, French police appeared to focus on a theory that the murders were motivated by a family dispute over money. Hilli's brother Zaid was arrested by British police but released from bail last month when Surrey detectives deemed there was not enough evidence to charge him. Zaif al-Hilli, 54, from Chessington, Surrey, said he was relieved, but French investigators said they still had "many questions" to ask him.

In the absence of any breakthrough, speculation about the murders have been rife, ranging from a secret service hit job because of Saad al-Hilli's job work on satellite technology, to an Iraqi connection, or a link to the French cyclist, who worked in the nuclear industry.

The Hilli brothers were alleged to have been locked in an inheritance dispute centred on the £825,000 home in Claygate, Surrey, where Saad and his family lived after their mother died in 2003.

Zaid, who inherited half the property, claimed that in 2011 his brother began to demand his share of the house "there and then" and pinned him down during a row. The two men never spoke again except through lawyers, but Zaid denied rumours that he had threatened to kill his brother.

He said he knew little about a Swiss bank account containing the proceeds from their father's business in Iraq and would not comment on claims that he attempted to access it using an expired card or tried to fake their father's will.

On Tuesday, the Surrey force said that the arrest "has resulted from a line of inquiry in France and is not as a result of the investigation carried out in the UK".

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