‘Hitmen’ linked to killing of UK family

FRENCH police are investigating whether the murder of a British family in the Alps eight years ago is linked to an alleged plot to kill a hypnotist.

Surrey engineer Saad al-Hilli, 50, was on holiday when he and his wife Iqbal, 47, and motherin-law Suhaila al-Allaf, 74, were shot dead along with French cyclist Sylvain Mollier, 45, in 2012. The al-Hillis’ daughters Zeena and Zainab, four and seven at the time, survived.

Now detectives in Paris have reportedly found ammunition of the same type used in the attack at the home of a man arrested for a failed attempt to assassinate psychotherapist Marie-Helene Dini last July.

The 7. 65mm rounds fit a Luger pistol issued to German troops in the First and Second World Wars.

The al-Hillis were shot dead at point- blank range in their BMW near Lake Annecy. Zainab was shot once, but survived, while Zeena hid under her mother’s skirt in the back of the car.

French police say Ms Dini just missed being shot by a hit squad hired by a professional rival, who allegedly paid £60,000 to have her killed, the Daily Mirror reported.

Officers arrested two men armed with a military- issue pistol and silencer who were waiting in a car outside her home in July, following a call from a suspicious neighbour.

At t he t i me, t he suspects falsely claimed to be part of t he General Directorate of External Security, the French equivalent of MI6, on an official mission to kill Ms Dini because she was involved with Mossad, the Israeli secret service.

S e v e r a l me n h a v e b e e n charged over the attempted murder of Ms Dini, including one i dentified as Daniel B, thought to be head of the hit squad. He is a retired police officer who had worked in the police intelligence service.

In 2013, Saad’s brother Zaid was arrested by Surrey Police on suspicion of ordering his sibling’s murder, but was later released without charge.