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Diana inquest:

A motorcyclist swerved to avoid the car crash which killed Diana, Princess of Wales and quickly left the scene without stopping, the inquest into her death was told on Monday.
# Princess Diana: Full coverage of the inquest into her death

A motorist who was driving in the opposite direction at the time said the motorbike "emerged from the smoke" coming from the crashed Mercedes immediately after the impact.

Diana crash wreckage
The inquest judge has released several photos of the crash scene

The jury has been told it must decide whether there is any truth in conspiracy theories surrounding Diana's death, including the suggestion that the crash was arranged by MI6 officers who used an anti-personnel flash gun to blind Henri Paul, who was driving the car.

The inquest at the Royal Courts of Justice in London was not told whether the unnamed motorcyclist has ever been traced. Other witnesses have told the jury of a "major flash" in the tunnel immediately before the crash and of up to four motorcyclists who appeared to be riding just feet away from the Mercedes.

Grigori Rassinier, whose statement was read to the jury, said that as he entered the Alma tunnel in Paris on August 31, 1997, he saw the Mercedes "juddering" as if still coming to a standstill after smashing into a pillar in the central reservation.

"I heard a hooter followed by the sound of braking and then saw a motorbike emerge from the smoke," he said. "It swerved as if it were avoiding the crashed car. The motorcycle left very quickly after having executed the swerve. It seems improbable that the motorbike stopped before setting off again."

He believed the motorbike, ridden by someone dressed in beige and with no passenger, had been following the Mercedes closely but not so closely as to be involved in the accident.

Mr Rassinier added that he had caught a glimpse of a woman who proved to be Princess Diana as he passed the wrecked car.
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"The interior light of the crashed car was on," he said. "As a result I could see two heads in the back of the car. I noticed that the rear right hand passenger was a woman. She had her hand raised and was crushed against the front seat."

Another witness recalled seeing a man in a suit calmly walking out of the tunnel talking on a mobile phone moments after the crash.

Sarah Culpepper, who was on a weekend trip to Paris, was walking along the banks of the River Seine with a friend when she heard a "massive crash" in the underpass.

She ran to see what had happened, and looked over a wall overlooking the exit to see a dark stationary car and a man in his early 40s, with slightly receding hair and wearing a dark suit with a blue shirt and tie, leaving the tunnel.

"I jumped to the conclusion that someone was trying to get reception to call an ambulance," she said.

Ian Croxford QC, counsel for the Ritz Hotel, which employed Mr Paul, said: "He appeared, as you watched him, did he, to be walking in a perfectly normal confident manner... and in watching his demeanour, the way he carried himself, he appeared to be acting in a perfectly normal or professional way?"

Miss Culpepper said: "Yes... he dealt with it extremely well... I presumed he was calm and confident."

Two investigations into the crash, in which Mr Paul and Diana's boyfriend Dodi Fayed also died, concluded that it was caused by Mr Paul driving excessively fast whilst being more than three times over the French drink-drive limit.

Mohamed Fayed, father of Dodi, believes Diana and his son were assassinated on the orders of Prince Philip to prevent them marrying and having a child together.

The inquest continues.

Key points: Cash-for-honours hearing

Here are the main points as MPs grill the police officer who led the cash-for-honours inquiry and the senior prosecutor who decided not to bring charges:

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Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner John Yates began by thanking the MPs on the Public Administration Committee for suspending their own inquiry into cash-for-honours in order that the police investigation could be carried out.

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In opening remarks he said it would be "wholly improper" to level personal accusations against those who do not have right of reply and said it would not be fair to reveal "personal or sensitive" evidence, saying the police have to maintain confidence.

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He said a full report was being prepared for November for the Metropolitan Police Authority.

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Carmen Dowd, the head of the CPS's Special Crime Division, also noted in her opening remarks that there were "inevitably limits" to what can be said.

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She said the nature of the evidence and information gathered and details of the decision making process would not be supplied, in order to maintain confidence in the independence and impartiality of the CPS.

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And she said all individuals connected to the case were entitled to the "presumption of innocence".

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Committee chairman Tony Wright said the committee had agreed to a "short pause" in its inquiry and said when Mr Yates had met the committee in July last year he thought it would be "wrapped up by October", or as early as mid-September - but it in fact had gone on for a year. He asked Mr Yates why he had been so confident the probe would be finished so quickly.

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Mr Yates said he had begun the investigation in the "spirit of cooperation" and many people "had cooperated in full".

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But he said there were instances when they received less than full cooperation. "I think there was a sense that we would ask questions, get some answers and simply go away. That is not how police investigations work".

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He said if they did not get a proper answer, they would go back and ask again until they got one.

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He said it was only in January 2007 that they finally discovered how the relevant honours list had been put together. "I do think, on reflection and in hindsight we were treated as a political problem rather than a criminal problem."

# He would not say who had not cooperated, but listed those which had, saying: "The Cabinet Office co-operated in full throughout, some of the parties cooperated in full throughout in my view, some did not. "

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Asked if anyone had told him Tony Blair might have to resign as prime minister if he had been interviewed under caution, he said: "I would expect anybody looking after the interests of someone at that level, to set out a range of consequences."

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He said he felt uncomfortable a number of times during the investigation, which had been subject to immense scrutiny, speculation and some "daft comments" from some MPs.

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"Yes there was pressure. Improper pressure? No I don't think so, would it have made any difference? No, I think not," he said.

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He said leaks had been taken very very seriously and the security around the operation had been "very tight".

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He said the police had worked out that most of what had been written was not by crime reporters but by political reporters.

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Mr Yates strongly denied briefing journalists, saying the investigation was characterised by a lot of speculation. He said stories about Christopher Evans' diaries and Ruth Turner's note were the only significant pieces of evidence leaked in an improper way and he was confident his team had not been responsible.

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Mr Yates said he had looked back to what he had written on 31 March last year, after receiving a complaint from the SNP MP Angus MacNeil, and said he had considered the dangers of the police being seen as impartial or used as a political tool.

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He said he took advice from his own director of legal services and from the director of public prosecutions, but the decision had to rest with the police. He said they had considered the allegations to be "extremely serious".

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He said the whole process of governance had been strictly adhered to to ensure police did not go on a "fishing expedition into areas we should not have gone".

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He said he had received more than 20 complaints in this case - not just the lesson from Mr MacNeil and said "you never know what you're going to find" in inquiries.

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He said if this case was seen as an "aborted police investigation", then 80% of police cases could be described as such.

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Mr Yates was asked if he had a "cavalier" attitude towards the distress felt by those investigated after he described it as "uncomfortable" for them, he said he had taken an oath to be impartial and independent and had stuck by that.

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"I'm sorry if it was an ordeal, I expect anybody who is under a police investigation finds it an ordeal, but I did my job," he added.

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Ms Dowd said if a complaint had been made, a police officer was duty bound to investigate all lines of inquiry but was not out to prove someone's guilt.

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She said there were lots of pieces of evidence that when put together, could look different from when they were considered separately and it was only when the investigation was completed that they could look at all the pieces of evidence together.

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Mr Yates was questioned about the necessity for dawn raids and "beating down the door" in a case of this type, by Tory MP Charles Walker.

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Mr Yates said if, generically speaking, someone is investigated with an ongoing conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, "what you don't do" is put the person investigated "on notice" or tell that person to turn up at the police station with the necessary papers.

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He also said they had not "beaten down the door" during this investigation.

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Mr Yates said a 6am arrest on a high profile person was the "least intrusive" option, arresting someone somewhere private, away from the full glare of publicity.

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He said there was no evidence the police had leaked evidence to the press of dawn raids, describing it as "absolute nonsense" - he demanded of Mr Walker: "Have you got evidence of that?"

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Mr Walker suggested a press officer may have leaked the information - Mr Yates said he worked with people he completely trusted to keep the information confidential.

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Mr Yates said he had been "in discussion" with the CPS throughout the inquiry to double check they were on the "right lines" and to question whether the investigation should stop.

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Asked whether it would ever be possible to prosecute a case under the 1925 Act, he said the law was "pretty straightforward" but any corruption case was always challenging as bargains made were never meant to come to light. "What we did was our job, which was a thorough and detailed investigation into the facts"

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He would not say whether he thought at some stage that the police would be able to press charges, Mr Yates said they had "built the case stage by stage on the evidence" and handed it to the CPS to make the final decision.

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"I may wish I could be judge and juror but that's not my role," he said.

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Ms Dowd would not answer questions about whether a diary, described a Sunday Times article as "dynamite", had been ruled inadmissible as evidence.

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"I think it's an inappropriate question in terms of the evidence and the facts of the case and we're going to have to decline to comment," she said.

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But Mr Yates did say they had raised suspicions when they came across them in early September.

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Ms Dowd said the nature of an investigation is not only about finding evidence to convict people, but to find evidence to exonerate people as well.

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She said work between the police and CPS had been exemplary and they had worked closely together from the outset.

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Asked whether he had spoken to a software company about getting technology that could "resurrect" e-mails - Mr Yates said he was not sure, but he didn't want to comment as it was straying into "evidential areas" and it was not proper to comment on it.

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David Perry QC, who advises the CPS, said the case had been presented as a "jigsaw" and it was difficult in the early stages to know "exactly what picture you are going to get at the end". He said it would have been "wholly inappropriate" to look at the material in a "piecemeal fashion".

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He said they had looked throughout at the difficulties created by the structure of the legislation but it was impossible to pre-empt the outcome without first knowing the "shape of the evidence". He said they were "alert to the difficulty" of prosecuting the case.

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Mr Yates said the lack of consistency and transparency for nominating working peerages meant it was "very difficult" to find a way through it. He said all three parties seemed to have different processes for nominating people in the first place.

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"It all felt a bit ad hoc in terms of how it gets to Holac" (The House of Lords appointments committee).

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Mr Yates said the cost of the investigation was a factor in considering a proportional response - saying it was "around £1m" but said three quarters was salary costs. "This was a criminal allegation of the most serious nature which we were duty bound to investigate," he said.

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Asked if it was "good value for money" - he said "that's for others to judge". He denied it was a "disaster for the police", saying it would have been a disaster if his operational independence had been compromised.

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He said it was "absolutely proper" that the police should have investigated the case - rather than leaving it to MPs.

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Asked whether he was concerned that the attorney general had not ruled himself out, he said it was not a matter for him to comment on and was "one for the DPP and the attorney general".

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On whether it had helped or hindered his career, being involved in the case, Mr Yates said: "I think that's probably for others to judge".

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Asked to define a commercial loan, Mr Yates said it was an important point, as lending money to a political party should not be a bar to being nominated for a peerage. "At the moment there is no definition of a commercial loan that I know of.. and I think it is a big gap in the law that it is not there".

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Ms Dowd said the Electoral Commission had not been in a position to define what a commercial loan looked like.

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Chairman Tony Wright asked Mr Yates straight whether he had discovered there was a "trade in peerages".

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Mr Yates replied: "I think chair, I've done my job, I followed the evidence, I provided that evidence to the CPS and they made their decision. I don't think I should comment further than that."

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Asked whether he had anything else to add he said he supported Sir Hayden Phillips's call for a stronger regulatory role for the Electoral Commission.

Mall Blast In Philippines Kills 8

John Concepcion - AHN News Writer

Makati City, Philippines (AHN) - An explosion rocked a mall located in the heart of the Philippines' financial district Friday, leaving eight people dead and scores injured.

Around 90 people, mostly children, have been taken to two hospitals in Makati City after the afternoon blast at the posh Glorietta 2 shopping Mall located along Ayala Avenue, the heart of Makati City's business district.

According to authorities, the explosion occurred at around 1:30 p.m. Manila time, which was earlier traced to a liquefied petroleum gas tank. However, the police are now considering the angle that what exploded was a bomb.

Initial investigation showed that the explosion occurred in the Luk Yuen Noodle House at the first level of the shopping mall, according to Police Director Geary Barias, chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO).

However, other witness accounts say the bridge way which connects the Mall to another shopping mall sustained heavy damage.

Up until press time, search and rescue operations have been launched as some people may still be buried under the rubble where the explosion occurred.

One of the hospitals where the fatalities and the injured were taken is the Makati Medical Center, which now houses some 42 people injured from the blast.

Alfie Reyes, a spokesman of mall owner Ayala Land, said, "We will extend assistance to all of the victims and if any of their families wish to reach out to us we will do so (and help them)."

In a press conference, police chief Avelino Razon said the explosion in the mall was "probably caused by a bomb" and not a gas leak as earlier reported.

He said, "This was a bomb. But beyond that we can't say anything else yet because we are still investigating. What I can say is it was not LPG that caused this."

He also said there is still no proof that the explosion was a terror attack.

The city and the international airport is now under a general alert.

President Gloria Arroyo was reportedly on her way to the hospitals to check on those injured.


Just spoke to my girlfriend in the Phils and shes says there are rumours that the president is behind the bombing as she is trying to bring about martial law

China's Olympic Lie

IT'S a rare Olympics that passes by without a whiff of scandal or corruption, tarnishing the golden image once again.

When it won the Olympic bid, China promised to improve its human rights record. Instead, as reporter Aidan Hartley discovers, things have got worse.

In a radical urban redevelopment scheme, Beijing is being remodelled into a shiny new Olympic city. But as old neighbourhoods are demolished, up to 1.5 million people have been forcibly evicted from their homes.

Those who dare to protest often find themselves locked up without charge or trial in one of Beijing's black jails. The authorities deny these jails exist, but, in a world exclusive, Unreported World films inside one of them

In fact, the documentary-makers see more of the prisons than they intended when a dozen guards attack them, smash their camera and detain them for six hours.

Not there yet but it should soon be on Unreported World soon...

Burma: Thousands dead in massacre of the monks dumped in the jungle

A Swedish diplomat who visited Burma during the protests said last night that in her opinion the revolution has failed.

Liselotte Agerlid, who is now in Thailand, said that the Burmese people now face possibly decades of repression. "The Burma revolt is over," she added.

"The military regime won and a new generation has been violently repressed and violently denied democracy. The people in the street were young people, monks and civilians who were not participating during the 1988 revolt.

"Now the military has cracked down the revolt, and the result may very well be that the regime will enjoy another 20 years of silence, ruling by fear."

Mrs Agerlid said Rangoon is heavily guarded by soldiers.

"There are extremely high numbers of soldiers in Rangoon's streets," she added. "Anyone can see it is absolutely impossible for any demonstration to gather, or for anyone to do anything.

"People are scared and the general assessment is that the fight is over. We were informed from one of the largest embassies in Burma that 40 monks in the Insein prison were beaten to death today and subsequently burned."

The diplomat also said that three monasteries were raided yesterday afternoon and are now totally abandoned.

At his border hideout last night, 42-year-old Mr Win said he hopes to cross into Thailand and seek asylum at the Norwegian Embassy.

The 42-year-old chief of military intelligence in Rangoon's northern region, added: "I decided to desert when I was ordered to raid two monasteries and force several hundred monks onto trucks.

"They were to be killed and their bodies dumped deep inside the jungle. I refused to participate in this."

With his teenage son, he made his escape from Rangoon, leaving behind his wife and two other sons.

He had no fears for their safety because his brother is a powerful general who, he believes, will defend the family.