- PARIS - The father of Princess Diana's companion Dodi Al Fayed is offering
a reward of up to 10 million francs ($1.7 million) for information on the
crash in which they died in Paris on Aug. 31, 1997, his lawyer said on
Tuesday.
-
- A newspaper ad promised the reward for
information that would help identify a mysterious Fiat Uno, two motorcycles
or any other vehicle that may have been involved in the crash.
-
- The offer also applied for any other
witnesses who had not yet testified in the inquiry.
-
- "Serious people who have kept silent
for reasons we do not know could testify now because of the reward,"
Mohammed Al Fayed's lawyer Georges Kiejman said.
-
- Investigators have concluded Diana's
Mercedes S-280 brushed against a white Fiat Uno car just before the crash
in a Paris underpass, sending the limousine skidding into a pillar in the
tunnel under the Alma Bridge along the Seine River.
-
- But neither the mysterious Uno nor its
owner have ever been located, leaving this angle of the inquiry up in the
air.
-
- Kiejman said the informants would have
to give precise details such as the registration number of the vehicles.
-
- The quarter of a page ad, in the tabloid
France-Soir, said the identity of possible informants would be kept secret.
-
- Investigating magistrate Herve Stephan
ended last month his 17-month-long probe, giving all parties involved until
Feb. 18 to request further lines of investigation.
-
- Al Fayed, a wealthy Egyptian businessman,
has accused the British secret services of plotting to prevent his Muslim
son from marrying the mother of Britain's future king, Prince William.
-
- Stephan has placed nine photographers
and a photo agency motorcyclist under examination for manslaughter on suspicion
that they contributed to the crash by chasing Diana's car, and for failing
to give assistance to the victims.
-
- The 10 have denied all responsibility
for the crash.
-
- Investigators say they uncovered no evidence
to support the theory that Diana was the victim of a conspiracy.
-
- They say driver Henri Paul, who also
died in the crash, appears primarily to blame as he was driving at two
to three times the legal speed limit and had a criminal level of alcohol
in his blood when he lost control of the car.
-
- The state prosecutor's office, in a possible
hint at the probe's eventual conclusions, referred to the crash as an "accident."
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