French police investigate possible family feud in Annecy slayings

If you ever needed anymore proof that money is truly the root of ALL EVIL. Here it is.

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French prosecutors today turned their attention to an alleged family feud as investigators continued to probe the grisly slaying of three members of a British-Iraqi family on holiday in France.

Saad al-Hilli, 50, from Surrey, along with his wife and mother-in-law were shot dead in the popular tourist region surrounding Lake Annecy in southern France.

A fourth person also killed in the shooting, was named yesterday as as Sylvain Mollier, a 40-year-old father of three who worked at a firm in the area. He had no links with the family.

Mr Al-Hilli's two daughters, Zeena, four, and Zainab, seven, both survived the attack - although the latter suffered horrific head injuries and was found bloodied and reportedly beaten in the road near the family BMW.

Last night she was in an artificially-induced coma at a hospital in Grenoble.

The younger girl, Zeena, reportedly survived by hiding for eight hours under the body of her dead mother in the BMW estate.

The children, who are apparently the only witnesses to the incident, were under close police protection today.

The grisly scene was discovered by a British cyclist who happened to be in the area.

Unconfirmed reports emerged yesterday of an alleged feud between the girls' father and his brother over money.

Prosecutor Eric Maillaud told a news agency that the feud was one line of inquiry that the police were following.

Mr Maillaud said: "It seems that there was a dispute between the two brothers about money. This seems to be credible information coming from the British police. The brother will have to be questioned at length. Every lead will be meticulously followed."