Fayed to see crash inquiry judge

MOHAMED Al Fayed is to be interviewed by the French judge investigating the death of Diana, Princess of Wales and the Harrods' owner's son, Dodi.

The judge has agreed to the meeting after Mr Fayed wrote expressing his interest in the inquiry. Judicial sources in Paris have stressed that the meeting is not linked to Mr Fayed's own investigation into last August's fatal crash. The judge has indicated that, unlike Mr Fayed, he believes the crash was an accident.

Meanwhile, Princess Diana's bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones, the sole survivor of the crash, will today be questioned by the judge, Herve Stephan.

His meeting follows the recent revelation that his memory of details of the incident - apparently including the fact that the Princess was still conscious immediately afterwards - has returned.

He recently told the Mirror newspaper that he had a recollection of two cars and a motorcycle following the Mercedes from the Ritz Hotel and that he remembered a female voice calling for Dodi Fayed after the crash. He also said the chauffeur Henri Paul, who also died in the crash, showed no signs of being drunk.

Harrods said yesterday that Mr Fayed's meeting would be "in due course" though reports from Paris said it would be on 12 March.

A spokesman for the judge said: "The judge has written to Mr Al Fayed because Mr Al Fayed is one of the people who has registered an interest in the investigation because of the death of his son.

"The judge writes to all the people who have registered an interest, such as the Princess's own family. At the moment there are no plans for Mr Al Fayed to testify."