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'I've got nothing to do with it': Brother of Iraq-born businessman executed with wife and mother-in-law in front of daughters in French Alps denies there was family feud over 'financial matters'

• Father named as Saad Al-Hilli, a Baghdad-born businessman who lived with his family in Claygate, Surrey
• He was killed alongside his wife Ikbal and her mother during caravan holiday to Lake Annecy, in eastern France
• The Al-Hilli's seven-year-old daughter, Zainab, is in a coma after suffering fractured skull and a bullet in the shoulder
• Her sister, Zeena, four, escaped unscathed after hiding beneath her mother's legs for eight hours
• Cyclist Sylvain Mollier, 45, a father-of-three, was shot dead after disturbing the multiple killings
  
• British and French police are investigating whether murders were professional hit
  
• Mr Al-Hilli's brother denies family feud suggestions and says he has nothing to do with the killings
  
• Forensics officers examine 15 bullet casings to see if family was targeted by more than one assassin
• Police searching for man in dark shirt driving 4x4 that witnesses saw speeding away from the area
  

By PETER ALLEN and GRAHAM SMITH PUBLISHED: 16:55 GMT, 5 September 2012 | UPDATED: 17:52 GMT, 7 September 2012


The brother of murdered British businessman Saad Al-Hilli today insisted there was 'no feud' between the two of them and that they got on extremely well.

Zaid Al-Hilli visited the nearest police station to his home in Kingston, Surrey, and 'presented himself spontaneously' to officers 'as a matter of course', French prosecutor Eric Maillaud said.Mr Maillaud said Zaid Al-Hilli would be a 'key witness' in the criminal enquiry into the killings because of a dispute said to be about an inheritance.

He said he had heard 'of a possible conflict between the two brothers over money matters' but he could not expand further.



A family friend who knew Mr Al-Hilli from the age of 15 brings flowers to the family home in Claygate, Surrey, this afternoon



Devastated: Two women, who identified themselves as family friends cry as they stand at the front gate of the Al-Hilli home

The prosecutor, who is leading the enquiry into the bloodbath, said Mr Al-Hilli 'went to the police after hearing about an argument, but denied he had a feud with his brother. That's all I can tell you. What is important is for us to listen to this brother procedurally.'

He said Mr Al-Hilli first visited police on Wednesday, within a few hours of the 4pm attack, because he was concerned about his brother's safety following the attack next to Lake Annecy which left four dead.

Following media reports of a feud between the Al-Hilli brothers on Thursday, he again visited police on his own accord to insist that there had been no quarrel.
It came as French detectives began to arrive in Britain to interview Mr Al-Hilli.

Mr Maillaud said up to three detectives would be arriving in London on Saturday morning, where they will liaise with Scotland Yard officers. One is arriving today to deal with any diplomatic problems which might arise.

The police officers are expected to visit the Kingston, Surrey, home of Mr Al-Hilli, and other family members.

Mr Maillaud said that each corpse was found with at least three bullets, and 'at least one bullet to the head'.

The prosecutor said he believed that more than one murderer was involved in the atrocity.

Speaking before a press briefing in Annecy, Mr Maillaud said the 'case looks more and more like an ambush' and that more than one gunman was likely to have been involved. Mr Maillaud said: 'It seems humanly difficult that so many shots could be fired by one man. Instinct tells us there was more than one suspect.'

He confirmed that a green 4x4 and a motorbike were the only two vehicles seen by the unnamed British cyclist who reported the murders.




Secluded: A journalist looks at the spot where the Al-Hilli family car was found with three bodies, and a cowering four-year-old girl, inside



Country lane: Reporters walk towards the tiny dirt lay-by where the massacre took place



Taped-off: Detectives prepare to remove the family car from the murder scene scene yesterday