ANNECY, France // Police on Friday were investigating if a family feud over money could be the motive for an execution-style killing of a British-Iraqi family in the French Alps.
Prosecutor Eric Maillaud said British police told French authorities of a financial dispute between the murdered British man and his brother, but he cautioned against drawing early conclusions.
Victim Saad al-Hilli's four-year-old daughter -- who was discovered alive and unhurt hours after the shooting beneath her dead mother's body -- had meanwhile been spoken to and was unable to give police any new clues.
A local man was also killed in the shooting after apparently witnessing the attack on the family's car.
"It seems that there was a dispute between the two brothers about money. This seems to be credible information coming from the British police," Maillaud told AFP.
"The brother will have to be questioned at length. Every lead will be meticulously followed."
He added however that it was difficult to imagine how a family feud could "pass from a financial dispute to a quadruple murder".
A French police source said the brother of Hilli, a 50-year-old Briton born in Iraq, had presented himself to British police on Thursday to proclaim his innocence and cooperate in the probe.
Maillaud said the little girl found in the car had been unable to help investigators, adding that officers had to be "extremely careful about the declarations of a traumatised little girl".
Post-mortem results on the four victims' bodies were due on Friday afternoon and the response to a formal request for DNA samples from Britain was expected to arrive on Saturday.
Maillaud said police were hoping to "find certain things in the home that could give us leads on the killers".
Hilli, his wife and mother-in-law were killed in their British-registered BMW estate car on Wednesday in a forest car park near the village of Chevaline in the picturesque Haute-Savoie region.
The body of local cyclist Sylvain Mollier, 45, who worked in the nuclear industry was found nearby.
Each had been shot in the head in a killing that bore many of the hallmarks of a professional assassination.
Neighbours in England said Hilli was an engineer and named the other victims as his wife Iqbal, who was carrying an Iraqi passport, and his 74-year-old mother-in-law, who had a Swedish passport. The couple's daughters were named as Zainab, aged seven, and Zeena, aged four.
Zainab was seriously injured after being shot in the shoulder and suffering a fractured skull from what authorities said were "extremely violent" blows to the head.
Maillaud said she had undergone surgery and was doing better.
"She was operated on again, she is doing well," he said. "Her state of health is no longer causing much worry. She is out of danger."
The family, from Surrey in southern England, had been staying since September 3 at the nearby Saint Jorioz camp site.
A veteran of Britain's Royal Air Force who has a second home in the area discovered the victims, having cycled into the car park at 3:48 pm Wednesday.
Several witnesses reported seeing a car speeding away from the scene around the time the attack took place. Investigators believe an automatic pistol was used and 15 spent bullet casings were found in the area. No weapon was found at the scene.
French Interior Minister Manuel Valls defended police who failed to spot Zeena in the car, insisting that protocol was followed.
Local police left the car untouched with the three corpses inside because they were concerned about compromising the work of a forensics team that did not arrive until nearly midnight.
The delay in releasing the girl had been severely criticised by, among others, a union representing police officers.
"I'm not going to get involved in a pointless and unjustified debate about this," Valls told RTL radio.
"I do not think any mistake was made. The gendarmes, the investigators, the technicians and the doctors did a very high quality job and I have confidence in their ability to continue their work."
Europa League group stage draw
Group A: Villarreal, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Astana, Slavia Prague.
Group B: Dynamo Kiev, Young Boys, Partizan Belgrade, Skenderbeu.
Group C: Sporting Braga, Ludogorets, Hoffenheim, Istanbul Basaksehir.
Group D: AC Milan, Austria Vienna , Rijeka, AEK Athens.
Group E: Lyon, Everton, Atalanta, Apollon Limassol.
Group F: FC Copenhagen, Lokomotiv Moscow, Sheriff Tiraspol, FC Zlin.
Group G: Vitoria Plzen, Steaua Bucarest, Hapoel Beer-Sheva, FC Lugano.
Group H: Arsenal, BATE Borisov, Cologne, Red Star Belgrade.
Group I: Salzburg, Marseille, Vitoria Guimaraes, Konyaspor.
Group J: Athletic Bilbao, Hertha Berlin, Zorya Luhansk, Ostersund.
Group K: Lazio, Nice, Zulte Waregem, Vitesse Arnhem.
Group L: Zenit St Petersburg, Real Sociedad, Rosenborg, Vardar
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
IF YOU GO
The flights: FlyDubai offers direct flights to Catania Airport from Dubai International Terminal 2 daily with return fares starting from Dh1,895.
The details: Access to the 2,900-metre elevation point at Mount Etna by cable car and 4x4 transport vehicle cost around €57.50 (Dh248) per adult. Entry into Teatro Greco costs €10 (Dh43). For more go to www.visitsicily.info
Where to stay: Hilton Giardini Naxos offers beachfront access and accessible to Taormina and Mount Etna. Rooms start from around €130 (Dh561) per night, including taxes.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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SERIES SCHEDULE
First Test, Galle International Stadium
July 26-30
Second Test, Sinhalese Sports Club Ground
August 3-7
Third Test, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium
August 12-16
First ODI, Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium
August 20
Second ODI, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium
August 24
Third ODI, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium
August 27
Fourth ODI, R Premadasa Stadium
August 31
Fifth ODI, R Premadasa Stadium
September 3
T20, R Premadasa Stadium
September 6
Bombshell
Director: Jay Roach
Stars: Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron, Margot Robbie
Four out of five stars
Credits
Produced by: Colour Yellow Productions and Eros Now
Director: Mudassar Aziz
Cast: Sonakshi Sinha, Jimmy Sheirgill, Jassi Gill, Piyush Mishra, Diana Penty, Aparshakti Khurrana
Star rating: 2.5/5
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
From Europe to the Middle East, economic success brings wealth - and lifestyle diseases
A rise in obesity figures and the need for more public spending is a familiar trend in the developing world as western lifestyles are adopted.
One in five deaths around the world is now caused by bad diet, with obesity the fastest growing global risk. A high body mass index is also the top cause of metabolic diseases relating to death and disability in Kuwait, Qatar and Oman – and second on the list in Bahrain.
In Britain, heart disease, lung cancer and Alzheimer’s remain among the leading causes of death, and people there are spending more time suffering from health problems.
The UK is expected to spend $421.4 billion on healthcare by 2040, up from $239.3 billion in 2014.
And development assistance for health is talking about the financial aid given to governments to support social, environmental development of developing countries.
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