Man arrested in Alps murder case that massacred British family

  • First suspect apprehended since the shootings near Lake Annecy, eastern France

Saad Al-Hilli was shot dead in France

Saad Al-Hilli was shot dead in France

A man suspected of supplying the gun used  in the quadruple murder in the Alps, in which three members of the British al-Hilli family died, has been arrested in Switzerland.

He is the first suspect apprehended since the shootings near Lake Annecy, in eastern France, six months ago.

Saad al-Hilli, 50, an engineer from Weybridge, Surrey, his wife Iqbal, 47, mother-in-law Suhaila al-Allaf, 74 were all shot twice through the head in their BMW parked in a remote Alpine beauty spot on September 5.

French cyclist Sylvain Mollier, a 45-year-old father of three, was also shot with a Luger P08.

The arrest took place in Geneva, less than an hour’s drive from Annecy. The suspect was held ‘for a number of days’ but denied all knowledge of the gun.

The French and Swiss authorities have refused to identify the man.

News of last month’s arrest emerged as detectives from a number of countries, including Britain and France, met in The Hague last week to discuss the case.

Meanwhile, the investigation into the massacre of a British family in the French Alps is to be extended to the victims' links to their native Iraq, officials revealed today.

The widening of the hunt for the killer of the Al-Hilli family comes after revelations of a possible connection to the former regime of Saddam Hussein.

Two French judges now want to travel to Baghdad to probe claims the deposed tyrant may have deposited £840,000 into a Swiss bank account in the name of victim Said al-Hilli's father.


The murder scene in the forest near Chevaline and Lake Annecy in the French Alps, where members of the family were massacred

They believe murdered Saad could have been feuding over the money with other members of his family before the multiple killings outside the village of Chevaline, near Lake Annecy.

The Al-Hilli's daughter Zeinab, seven, was treated for a bullet wound and severe head injuries, while her sister Zeena, four, survived after hiding from the killer beneath her mother's body.

Annecy chief prosecutor Eric Maillaud told France's Journal du Dimanche newspaper: 'Sooner or later we will have to go to Baghdad.

'The aim is to understand if we can make a link between the murders and the Iraqi origins of the victims.

'We want to know exactly what Said al-Hilli's father did professionally in Iraq, where he got his wealth from and why he left the country.

'We have made a formal request to officials in Iraq to meet them because there is no substitute for face to face contact with our fellow magistrates, but have so far we have had no response.'