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| British Police Evacuate Area Around Murder Victims’ Home | British Police Evacuate Area Around Murder Victims’ Home |
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| LONDON — In a further mysterious twist to a story of murder and intrigue that has seized headlines for days in France and Britain, the British police said on Monday that they had evacuated an area around the home of a British-Iraqi family targeted in last week’s killing in the French Alps. | LONDON — In a further mysterious twist to a story of murder and intrigue that has seized headlines for days in France and Britain, the British police said on Monday that they had evacuated an area around the home of a British-Iraqi family targeted in last week’s killing in the French Alps. |
| News reports said a British Army bomb disposal unit had arrived at the home. | News reports said a British Army bomb disposal unit had arrived at the home. |
| Three members of the family were shot to death in the attack while a fourth victim — a French cyclist — also died in the attack near the lakeside town of Annecy. The motive for the attack remained unclear. Two children traveling in the same car survived, one of them after being beaten and another who hid undetected under the bodies for eight hours after the shooting. The family had been on vacation, reportedly staying in a nearby holiday trailer park. | Three members of the family were shot to death in the attack while a fourth victim — a French cyclist — also died in the attack near the lakeside town of Annecy. The motive for the attack remained unclear. Two children traveling in the same car survived, one of them after being beaten and another who hid undetected under the bodies for eight hours after the shooting. The family had been on vacation, reportedly staying in a nearby holiday trailer park. |
| Police investigating the killing have focused on both the crime scene in France and the family home of the victims — Saad al-Hilli, 50, his wife Iqbal, a dentist, and her mother — in the affluent village of Claygate south of London in the Surrey countryside. | Police investigating the killing have focused on both the crime scene in France and the family home of the victims — Saad al-Hilli, 50, his wife Iqbal, a dentist, and her mother — in the affluent village of Claygate south of London in the Surrey countryside. |
| Zainab al-Hilli, a seven-year-old daughter, was wounded but has regained consciousness while her four-year-old sister, Zeena, hid behind her mother’s body. French police say they want to question the elder sister about what happened. | Zainab al-Hilli, a seven-year-old daughter, was wounded but has regained consciousness while her four-year-old sister, Zeena, hid behind her mother’s body. French police say they want to question the elder sister about what happened. |
| A French cyclist, identified in British press reports as Sylvain Mollier, 45, was also killed. | A French cyclist, identified in British press reports as Sylvain Mollier, 45, was also killed. |
| British police officials said on Monday that “due to concerns around items found at the address, officers have extended the cordon surrounding the property. Neighbors in the immediate area are being temporarily evacuated.” Witnesses said the search seemed to be centering on a shed or workshop in the garden of the home. | |
| Photographs of the family’s mock-Tudor home have dominated front pages in Britain. The police officials did not say what had prompted the evacuation. Journalists staking out the home were also moved back about 200 yards, Britain’s Press Association news agency said. | Photographs of the family’s mock-Tudor home have dominated front pages in Britain. The police officials did not say what had prompted the evacuation. Journalists staking out the home were also moved back about 200 yards, Britain’s Press Association news agency said. |
| According to newspaper accounts, Mr. Hilli, who arrived in Britain from Iraq in 1970 and had a British upbringing, was a consultant specializing in the aerospace and satellite industries. His brother, Zaid, has denied reports that he was in a financial dispute with Mr. Hilli, news reports said. | |
| Investigators say they found 25 spent rounds at the scene of the crime and recovered two cellphones from the BMW saloon in which the family was traveling, according to news reports, which said that each victim had been shot twice in the head. The nature of the shootings has fueled speculation that a professional hit-team carried out the attack. | |
| British press reports have suggested that MI5, the domestic security service, ordered Mr. Hilli to be placed under surveillance in 2003 at a time when the then prime minister, Tony Blair, strongly supported the American invasion of Iraq. But there has been no independent corroboration of those reports. | |
| French prosecutors have said the Hilli family had visited the Alpine region on previous occasions and had stayed at the same camping site, known as Le Solitaire du Lac. |