Alps Murders: Brother Denies Involvement

The brother of a British-Iraqi businessman whose family were shot dead in the French Alps has again claimed he was not involved in the massacre.

Zaid al Hilli, whose brother Saad was found dead in a bullet-riddled BMW in September last year, admitted to The Sunday Times newspaper that they were engaged in a bitter inheritance dispute, but said he had nothing to do with the murders.

"I have told the police from the beginning that I am an open book. I have nothing to hide," he said.

The 54-year-old, who was arrested in June on suspicion of masterminding the killings, accused French police of failing to carry out a proper investigation.

He said they should look at the possibility that the real target was Sylvain Mollier, a Frenchman who was shot dead near the family's car as he cycled through the hills above Lake Annecy.

"They are covering up for someone in France in that region and they know it," Mr Hilli told the BBC.

"Mollier was involved in family disputes and was an outsider to (his) rich family. There is something more to it locally ... most crime has local roots."

Saad al Hilli, 50, was shot dead in his car parked in a lay-by on a mountain road. His wife Iqbal, 47, and her mother Suhaila al Allaf, 74, were also killed. Mr Mollier's body was found nearby.

The couple's daughter Zainab, seven at the time, recovered after being shot and pistol-whipped and her sister Zeena, who was four, was found unhurt hiding beneath her mother's body.

French investigators believe Mr Mollier was an innocent bystander who was killed because he stumbled upon the murder scene.

Their lead theory is that a family inheritance dispute was the motive for the killings.

Mr Hilli, who is due to answer police bail on Wednesday, also denied any involvement in the shooting when he was approached by Sky News last month .

He told The Sunday Times that the last time the brothers spoke, Saad had physically attacked him as they argued over the £1m house in Claygate, Surrey, they inherited from their mother.

"I was on the bed in my bedroom and he pinned me down," he said.

Mr Hilli, who works as a payroll manager for a leisure company, said he had given 25 hours of interviews to British police but has refused to go to France for further questioning.

"The French, I don't trust them at all," he told The Sunday Times. "My brother was killed there in that region and I am not going to take the risk."

He revealed that he had taken a day off work on the day of the murders and gone to Worthing, in West Sussex, with a friend.

He said the brothers, who were born to middle-class parents in Baghdad before the family moved to Britain in 1971, had enjoyed a close relationship but fell out over the house.