30/11/2007

Al Fayed 'Knew' Crash Deaths Were Plotted

The Princess Diana inquest has been told of the reaction of her lover Dodi's father after hearing about the fatal crash.

His immediate – calm – response was to insist that the deaths were staged deliberately – and was the result of a plot.

Mohamed Al Fayed said his son had been the victim of a plot or an assassination within seconds of being told of his death, the court has heard.

Frank Klein, boss of the Ritz hotel in Paris, told the Princess Diana inquest how he broke the news of Dodi Al Fayed's death in a call to his father.

Mr Klein said that Mr Fayed had told him: "This is not an accident, this is a plot or an assassination."

He added that Dodi had told him he was going to get engaged.

The Princess and Dodi Al Fayed died after the black Mercedes they were travelling in crashed in a Paris tunnel on 31 August, 1997, along with their driver Henri Paul.

Ritz president Mr Klein, who was not in Paris on the night of the accident but at his holiday home in the south of France, told the London inquest he was told what had happened by telephone.

Fighting back tears, he told the court of the phone call he then made - 20 minutes after the crash - to Mohamed Al Fayed, who sat just yards away from him in court.

"I said, 'Mr Al Fayed, very sorry to disturb you, there has been a terrible accident... Dodi passed away and the driver,'" Mr Klein told the court.

Mr Al Fayed said 'what about the princess?'"

Mr Klein told Mr Al Fayed that he thought the princess was still alive.

"Mr Al Fayed, very calm, said to me, 'Frank, this is not an accident, this is a plot or an assassination'.

"I said, 'you cannot say that, it's an accident'.

"And he said, 'Frank, I know more than you know, more than you think'."

(BMcC)

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