French Alps Shooting Probe to Seek Details from Iraq

Investigators probing the shooting of a British-Iraqi man's family in the French Alps are to request information from Iraqi authorities about his father, a prosecutor told AFP Friday.

Investigators are to send a rogatory letter, a formal request for judicial assistance, in the next few days in the hope of shedding light on the possible motives for the shooting, Annecy prosecutor Eric Maillaud said.

Saad al-Hilli, 50, his wife Iqbal, 47, and her mother Suhaila al-Allaf, 74, were all found dead inside their estate car near Lake Annecy on September 5, along with a French cyclist who police believe was an innocent bystander. The couple's two young daughters survived the attack.

The victims were shot dead, and investigators have so far failed to make any progress in solving the case.

The request for information from Iraq is aimed at "understanding the al-Hilli family's environment. The idea is, in other words: Can we make a link between the murders and the Iraqi origins of the victims?" Maillaud said.

Investigators are hoping to learn more about Saad al-Hilli's father, a businessman who fled Iraq in the 1980s and died in Spain in 2011, Maillaud said.

He said investigators wanted details about his work in Iraq, the conditions under which he left the country and the origin of his assets, including the £780,000 (968,000 euros) he deposited in a Swiss bank account in 1984.

Investigators have said they believe a dispute over the father's money may have been a motive in the killings.

Maillaud said formal questions were being prepared but that there were no plans to send investigators to Iraq.

About 100 police in France and Britain are involved in the probe into the killings.