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Al-Fayed says accepts Princess Diana verdict (video)

Other News Materials 9 April 2008 16:10 (UTC +04:00)

(Reuters) - The father of Dodi al-Fayed, killed in a Paris car crash with Princess Diana in 1997, said on Tuesday he accepted the verdict of an inquest jury and was giving up his legal attempts to show the couple were murdered.

"Enough is enough," a teary-eyed Harrods store owner Mohamed al-Fayed said in an interview with ITV's "News at Ten," saying he was abandoning his legal battle for the sake of Diana's sons, Princes William and Harry.

"I'm leaving the rest for God to get my revenge, but I'm not doing anything any more," he said.

An inquest ruled on Monday that Diana and her lover, Dodi al-Fayed, were unlawfully killed by the grossly negligent driving of their chauffeur and paparazzi photographers pursuing them in a Paris road tunnel.

Mohamed al-Fayed had accused Queen Elizabeth's husband Prince Philip, Diana's former father-in-law, of ordering British security services to kill her and stop her marrying a Muslim and having his baby.

He said he had met his lawyers on Tuesday and there were still legal options open, but added: "I'm tired, you know."

Asked if he did not want to pursue the case any further, he shook his head as his eyes filled with tears.

"I'm a father who lost his son and I have done everything for 10 years. But now with the verdict, I am accepting it but with all the reservations which I have mentioned," he said.

He said he did not approve "100 percent" because the coroner at the inquest, Lord Justice Scott Baker, limited the jury's freedom.

Scott Baker said there was no evidence Queen Elizabeth's husband ordered Diana's "execution" and told the jury it could not conclude Diana was killed in a staged accident.

Nevertheless, al-Fayed said he was very grateful to the jury because it had concluded Diana and Dodi's deaths were not an accident, but an unlawful killing.

"This gives me great satisfaction because it has proved my point that my son and Princess Diana (have) been murdered," he said.

After the verdicts on Monday, the Egyptian-born al-Fayed said in a statement: "Diana predicted that she would be murdered and how it would happen. So I am disappointed."

He insisted the queen and her husband should have been called as witnesses. "I have always believed that Prince Philip and the queen hold valuable evidence that only they know," he said.

Princes William and Harry have said they agreed with the verdict in the inquest.

Former bodyguard Trevor Rees, sole survivor of the 1997 crash, also said he agreed with the verdict.

Rees, who suffered horrific facial injuries in the crash but survived because he was wearing a seat belt, said: "I hope that this now represents a point from which everyone involved can move on."

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