Mohamed Al Fayed to Sue U.S. for Diana Info
Aug. 30 -- It’s been almost three years since Princess Diana and her companion Dodi Fayed died in a Paris car crash, but Fayed’s father continues his search for answers.
Lawyers for Mohamed Al Fayed today announced they will file a lawsuit against U.S. government agencies they say possess information related to the crash.
The announcement comes on the eve of the third anniversary of the accident. Diana, Princess of Wales, Dodi Fayed and driver, Henri Paul, were killed early Aug. 31, 1997, when their speeding car slammed into the wall of a Paris tunnel. The sole survivor of the accident was Trevor Rees-Jones, a Fayed bodyguard.
U.S. lawyer Mark Zaid, representing Al Fayed, and John Macnamara, the director of security for Harrods Ltd., the London luxury department store Fayed owns, made the announcement at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
Documents Sought
In a videotaped statement, Al Fayed accused the CIA and other U.S. agencies were withholding the documents as part of a coverup.
“I believe they are withholding some of the documents at the request of the British secret services,” an emotional Al Fayed said. “They cannot afford to let the truth be known because they know exactly where the truth lies.”
In a letter read by Macnamara, Al Fayed said the National Security Agency has at least 39 documents totaling more than 1,000 pages relevant to the crash.
“There clearly is U.S. involvement in events prior to and subsequent to the tragedy,” Zaid said.
Zaid was careful not to allege that Diana’s death was part of a conspiracy between the British and American governments.
Zaid said the lawsuit, to be filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Washington, was an effort under the Freedom of Information Act, in order to further corroborate Al Fayed’s suspicions of how his son and Princess Diana died.
‘Romeo and Juliet’Al Fayed believes Diana and his son were killed as part of a British conspiracy arranged by the royal family because they did not like the prospect of Diana — the ex-wife of Prince Charles, the heir to the throne, and mother to Princes William and Harry, dating and perhaps marrying a Muslim Egyptian.
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