Police: no bombs at Alps victims' home

Neighbours living close to the Surrey home started returning to their houses this afternoon after detectives investigating the al-Hilli murders in the French Alps last week examined the family's home.

"Surrey Police can confirm that items found at an address this morning (September 10), in Oaken Lane, Claygate, are not hazardous," police said in a statement.


"A bomb disposal unit was called to the scene to carry out an assessment as a precautionary measure," police added. "A cordon around the house and gardens will remain in place as the search of the property continues following the deaths of four people in southern France."

Police in France were planning to question the seven-year-old girl who witnessed her parents' murder. Her four-year-old sister, Zeena, returned to the UK on Sunday with carers.

Their father Saad al-Hilli, 50, was murdered in his car alongside his dentist wife, Iqbal, on Wednesday while the family holidayed in the region. An older Swedish woman travelling in the car also died in the shooting as well as Sylvain Mollier, 45, a French cyclist who apparently stumbled across the attack.

Key witness

Seven-year-old Zainab al-Hilli was seriously injured in the attack in the French Alps and is currently under sedation after being put in a medically induced coma.

Zainab, who is seen as a key witness in the killings, recovered consciousness after being shot and beaten during the ordeal. Public prosecutor Eric Maillaud said she will be interviewed as soon as doctors allow it.

Zeena, who was found lying under her mother's corpse and was unhurt in the attack, has spoken to police and confirmed that two of the victims were her parents, but said she did not know the Swedish woman very well.

She flew back to the UK after two relatives - reportedly an aunt and uncle - travelled to France over the weekend alongside a British social worker and family liaison officers from Surrey Police.

Motive unknown

Investigators in France and the UK are trying to find a motive for the murders and have been speaking with his brother, named in reports as Zaid Hilli. Mr Maillaud said Mr al-Hilli's sibling approached UK police to deny any feud with his brother over money.

Detectives are also believed to be looking into Mr al-Hilli's profession, with reports emerging that he was working as a contractor for a satellites technology company in Surrey.

Witnesses have said they saw a green four-wheel-drive vehicle in the area at the time of the killings, and possibly a motorbike.

Investigators found 25 spent bullet cartridges at the scene of the crime - a car park in the Combe d'Ire forest near Chevaline - while two mobile phones were found in the al-Hilli's bullet-ridden BMW are being analysed by police.

One theory is that the shots could have been fired during a bungled armed robbery, with Mr Mollier, the cyclist killed in the shooting, being a witness to the crime. But speculation about other possible motives, including a pre-planned attack by professional hitmen, remain rife.