France arrests man for 2012 murder of British-Iraq family

Police tape is drawn across the entrance to the home of Saad Al-Hilli, an Iraqi-born engineer who was murdered along with his wife and mother-in-law, in Claygate, England on 14 September 2012 [Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images]

France has today arrested a man in connection to the murder of an Iraqi-born engineer, his wife and mother-in-law in 2012.

Saad Al-Hilli, his wife Ikbal and her mother Suhaila were gunned down near Lake Annecy. A cyclist who stumbled on the scene was also killed.

The identity of the man detained by police at 8am this morning remains unknown, but sources have said his house is being searched and details of his whereabouts at the time of the murders are being verified.

Their children survived the attack, though then seven-year-old Zainab was pistol-whipped and badly beaten, while her four-year-old sister Zeena hid in the car’s footwell.

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