The mainstream media for the most part has moved on. But there are a few more gleanings to be had, of perhaps the most interesting comes from the Daily Mirror, which labels al-Hilli an extremist on the grounds that he was against the war in Iraq, disapproved of the behaviour of Israel and had doubts over 9/11 – which makes a great deal of the population “extremist”. But the Mirror has the only mainstream mention I can find of the possibility that Mossad carried out the killings. Given Mr al-Hilli’s profession, the fact he is a Shia, the fact he had visited Iran, and the fact that Israel heas been assassinating scientists connected to Iran’s nuclear programme, this has to be a possibility. There are of course other possibilities, but to ignore that one is ludicrous.
Which leads me to the argument of Daily Mail crime reporter, Stephen Wright, that the French police should concentrate on the idea that this was a killing by a random Alpine madman or racist bigot. Perfectly possible, of course, and the anti-Muslim killings in Marseille might be as much a precedent as Mossad killings of scientists. But why the lone madman idea should be the preferred investigation, Mr Wright does not explain. What I did find interesting from a man who has visited many crime scenes are his repeated insinuations that the French authorities are not really trying very hard to find who the killers were, for example:
the crime scene would have been sealed off for a minimum of seven to ten days, to allow detailed forensic searches for DNA, fibres, tyre marks and shoe prints to take place.
Nearby bushes and vegetation would have been searched for any discarded food and cigarette butts left by the killer, not to mention the murder weapon.
But from what I saw at the end of last week, no such searches had taken place and potentially vital evidence could have been missed. House to house inquiries in the local area had yet to be completed and police had not made specific public appeals for information about the crime. No reward had been put up for information about the shootings.
Behind the scenes, what other short cuts have been taken? Have police seized data identifying all mobile phones being used in the vicinity of the murders that day?
The idea that the French authorities – who are quite as capable as any other of solving cases – are not really trying very hard is an interesting one.
Which leads me to this part of a remarkable article from the Daily Telegraph, which if true points us back towards a hit squad and discounts the ides that there was only one gun:
Claims that only one gun was used to kill everybody is likely to be disproved by full ballistics test results which are out in October.
While the 25 spent bullet cartridges found at the scene are all of the same kind, they could in fact have come from a number of weapons of the same make.
This throws up the possibility of a well-equipped, highly-trained gang circling the car and then opening fire.
Both children were left alive by the killers, who had clinically pumped bullets into everybody else, including five into Mr Mollier.
Zainab was found staggering around outside the car by Brett Martin, a British former RAF serviceman who cycled by moments after the attack, but he saw nobody except the schoolgirl.
Her sister, Zeena, was found unscathed and hiding in the car eight hours later.
Both sisters are now back in Britain, and are believed to have been reunited at a secret location near London.
There are of course a number of hit squad options, both governmental and private, which might well involve iraqi or Iranian interests – on both of which the mainstream media have been very happy to speculate while almost unanimously ignoring Israel.
But what interests me is why the Daily Telegraph choose, in the face of all the evidence, to minimise the horrific nature of the attack by stating that “Both children were left alive by the killers”? Zainab was not left alive by design, she was shot in the chest and her skull was stove in, which presumably was a pretty serious attempt to kill a seven year-old child. The other girl might very well have succeeded in hiding from the killers under her mother’s skirts, as she hid from the first rescuers, and then for eight hours from the police.
The Telegraph article claims to be informed by sources close to the investigation. So they believe it was a group of people, and feel motivated to absolve those people from child-killing. Now what could the Daily Telegraph be thinking?
http://france24.com/en/20131110-iran-safdar-rahmat-abadi-deputy-industry-minister-shot-dead
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safdar_Rahmat_Abadi
Safdar Rahmat Abadi, Deputy minister of industries and mines:
Being originally under the ministry of Trade, it was formed under the title of Ministry of Industries and Mines in 1973, and later after a series of splits and merges, it was formed again by the merger of the ministry of Mines and Metals and the ministry of Industries in the year 2000.
Missions of the ministry
The missions of the ministry includes the regulation of strategies for industrial and mining developments, determining policies and plans for these sectors, and improving the efficiency and productivity of these sectors, as well as supervising, directing and supporting them. The missions also include the promotion of export of industrial and mining products and engineering and technical services, as well as improvement of management, productivity and entrepreneurship in these sectors, and the issuance of license for the related production units.
Zirconium Production Plant (ZPP) -Ministry of Industries and Mines
Iran has built a Zirconium Production Plant (ZPP), which, when completed, will be able to produce 10 tonnes of zirconium tubing per year for nuclear fuel cladding. Construction started in 2004. The ZPP, according to the Iranian ministry of mines officials, will be able to produce zirconium sponge, zirconium alloy strip and bar, magnesium, hafnium, 99.99 percent pure magnesium, zirconium alloys, titanium and titanium alloys, and can do ferrous and non-ferrous metal casting. Its operational status is unclear.
Re: Ministry of Industries and Mines Iran
http://www.nti.org/facilities/162/
Iran constructed this facility to produce the zirconium cladding necessary for the production of fuel pellets for the IR-40 heavy water reactor at Arak. The metals and alloys produced in this facility are further processed at the Fuel Manufacturing Plant. The facility, reportedly constructed with Chinese assistance , has a capacity to produce 10 tons of zirconium tubing annually. However, the plant’s operational status remains uncertain,
particularly in light of evidence that Iran attempted to purchase zirconium “via illicit nuclear trade” as late as 2012,
according to David Albright and Christina Walrond of the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS).
That is a great connection B! It makes me think that the Al Hilli murder is just one of a string of murders against assets of Iran by proxies of a security service! Saad knew something or was in the middle of something much bigger! If bit what the motive to kill a whole family and a line cyclist it never added up! Maybe they attended the conference and that was when they where added to a list no one wants to be on!
There is a great source regarding illicit nuclear trade to iran by ISIS but it’s a lot too read …
http://www.isisnucleariran.org/illicit-trade/
Ricki tarr
Today there was one of the events happening i was actually expecting to happen once upon a time. Similar killing procedure (shots into chest and head), happened in private car, victim knew killer or was forced talking to him. Pretty much the same of what we had learnt of chevaline.
And then the victim: deputy minister of industries (metallurgy) and mines. Particularly responsible for a zirconium plant in Isfahan (ZPP).
And then, today we learnt that iran did obtain zirconium in ways of illicit nuclear trade (smuggling) as late as 2012!
Those are the events (if sad for the victims) that might help to solve previous but somehow connected crimes.
Due to international sources this is the reason for the french “no” in geneva. The french share a bed with saudi arabia due to areva’s multi billion dollar business with saudi arabia. This was the reason for the french intetest to begin nato war in syria, too.
France has become a puppet of the israel/saudi arabian world power.
http://www.investview.biz/information-electricite.php?var=929&Saudi-Arabia-and-Areva-to-sign-nuclear-and-solar-energy-deal
http://www.pennenergy.com/articles/pennenergy/2013/07/areva-edf-partner-on-developing-nuclear-power-skills-in-saudi-arabia.html
Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia intends to cut fossil fuel consumption within the next several decades, and is set to sign a major agreement with a local Saudi partner.Reuters reports that although it sits on the world\’s largest oil and gas reserves, Saudi Arabia is struggling to keep up with rapidly rising power demand, as petrodollars have fueled a Gulf-wide economic boom as well as a population boom.Anne Lauvergeon, chief executive of the French nuclear reactor company Areva, told reporters here that the company would sign a partnership agreement with Saudi Arabia\’s Binladin Group for nuclear and solar energy. She gave no specific figure.
From
http://www.isis-online.org. July 15, 2013. Update on the Arak Reactor. By David Albright
Iran has stated that the plant is ready. However, its operation is not confirmed. Iran has also sought zirconium pre-forms abroad, as recently as a year ago (ed. must be july 2012 then) according to a knowledgeable official. This suggests that the plant was not making rods as of that date. The preforms, which are thick tubes, would then be thinned on a machine, called a Cold Pilger, into tubes used for the fuel cladding. Thus, Iran appears to have pursued a strategy to acquire the preforms both via illicit nuclear trade and by indigenous production. It is unknown how many pre-forms Iran possesses, or the number of fuel rods that Iran could clad with zirconium.
Quote ends.
Zirconium pre forms as part illicit nuclear trade. That could be the key. Where would you ask to get zirconium production pre-forms other than at Cezus?
What is indigenous production of zirconium pre-forms? What could that be?
What do we have today?
1.A dead french metallurgy worker who, without any doubts, had access to zirconium pre-forms.
2 Three dead Iraqis whose links to Shia elites are evident and who met the french metallurgy worker in a lonely french forest.
3.One of the dead iraqis received death threats and so did the french receive death threats we had learnt due to media sources.
4.A dead iranian minister of industries and mines (who was killed in the very same way today) who was responsible (amongst other things) for ZPP (= iranian zirconium production and he was quite possibly also responsible for obtaining zirconium pre-forms in 2012 – according to ISIS).
Case study in denial.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RryusiAHm8s&feature=share
precisely the point i was making BB but i dont know about abadi. Could france complicity in the murder give israel additional leverage? however my feeling is that the gulf states have the tightest grip via Areva, so if they are now backing israel, it goes some way to explaining things.
“Navon, the director of the political science and communications department at the Jerusalem Orthodox College, and teacher of International Relations at Tel Aviv University and at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, said France sees an agreement that “must remove the threat of Iran reaching military capability” with respect to its nuclear program.
Navon pointed to Hollande’s willingness to confront Iran’s proxy – the regime of President Bashar Assad in Syria, which was a French Mandate following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire – with military force.
He “gave the orders to shoot” but US President Barack Obama pulled the plug on missile strikes and deferred the dispute to Congress for approval.
Richard Landes, a distinguished historian at Boston University with an expertise in French history, told the Post, “The fact is that his [Hollande] administration has proven to be tougher than [former French president Nicolas] Sarkozy.””
http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Why-did-the-French-toss-a-wrench-in-the-nuke-talks-331200
So far best MSM report regarding the Abadi assassination today:
http://voiceofrussia.com/2013_11_11/Is-murder-of-Iranian-official-politically-charged-7814/
This is how Germany remembered it. How about Israel?
http://www.france24.com/en/20131110-germans-mark-75th-kristallnacht-anniversary
even more like chevaline –
Police officers at the site claimed Abadi had been talking to the gunmen prior to his assassination, and that the bullets were most likely fired from inside the vehicle, the report said.
“That two shells were found inside the car shows a strong likelihood that the assailant was inside the car and in conversation with Mr. Abadi. There was no sign of struggle at the scene of the killing,” Reuters quoted a Tehran police officer as saying.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/iranian-deputy-minister-shot-dead-in-tehran/
Bluebird
11 Nov, 2013 – 9:10 pm
It is noticeable the finger is pointed at saudi rather than israel. Both syria and iran have avoided the israel provocation option as they realise potentially nuclear weapons are pointing at them and bibi has itchy fingers. note a southern prosecutor has been shot whether related or not we dont know. Russia is actively (with China) stepping up its propaganda war against the US. It will use any news that helps. Russia also wants Saudi oil. its a very delicate complicated game being played out there of which chevaline was a tiny but significant part. I have little doubt it involved zirconium know-how. who better for that than sm? nor is there any guarantee that abadi was not israeli double agent. it certainly seems he might have been shot by someone he knew (handler/contact?)
“The Iranian expert community has released a statement that the attack was an act of terror by Salafi or Wahhabi groups, aided by Saudi Arabia. Saudis may have also been involved in the latest tragic events in the southeast of Iran. (Last Wednesday, the Prosecutor of the Iranian city Zabol, the administrative centre of the southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Musa Nuri, was killed when unidentified people stopped his car and shot him point blank from sub-machineguns. – Voice of Russia).
Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/2013_11_11/Is-murder-of-Iranian-official-politically-charged-7814/“
We have a lot of reasons to suspect an illicit zirconium pre-forms trade.
SM -> al Hilli -> Rahmat Abadi
Somebody quite obviously didnt like it.
A woman was shot dead by masked gunman today close to where quadruple Alps murders involving Al-Hilli family took place in 2012 #Chevaline
1:21pm – 11 Nov 13
Twitter @peterallenparis
Ricki – more on that story here:
http://www.faitsdivers.org/15370-Haute-Savoie-une-femme-abattue-a-3-km-de-Chevaline.html
Google translation:
“The incident occurred on the night of Sunday to Monday in Latheron, in Haute-Savoie.
At around 1:40, a woman, aged 54, was watching television when two masked individuals broke into his home.
The couple managed to repel the attackers and close the door, but they fired a shotgun through, fatally wounding the woman.
The robbers then fled by car.
The victim was a manager of Latheron camping near Lake Annecy.
As for the husband, he also received a rifle butt to the brow during the confrontation.
Burglary or settlement of accounts? For now no track is preferred.
Lathuile is located 3 km from Chevaline. “
I see once again Israel is getting the blame here for the failure of the Iranian talks:
Monday, November 11, 2013
DESPITE OBAMA’S CRUSHING CAPITULATION, IRAN BACKS OUT OF NUCLEAR DEAL.
“Everybody agreed it was a fair proposal”; so said John Kerry. Apparently he was standing in Obama’s closet when he said that.
Here’s everyebody: “Sounds like Obama decided to enter the Persian nuclear bazaar to haggle with the masters of negotiation and has had his head handed to him” — Mark Dubowitz
“This is a bad deal, a very, very, bad deal” — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on French radio according to the Reuters news agency, that France could not accept a “sucker’s deal.”
And still it wasn’t enough.
Obama’s plan allowed Iran to keep enriching uranium, spinning their centrifuges, and building advanced new centrifuges, without having to dismantle a single centrifuge. Not. enough. What will Obama give up next?
Iran backed out of nuclear deal — John Kerry BBC, November 11, 2013
Secretary of State John Kerry has said Iran backed out of a deal on its nuclear programme during talks with world powers in Geneva on Saturday.
Amid reports that France’s reservations scuppered an agreement, Mr Kerry told reporters in Abu Dhabi: “The French signed off on it; we signed off on it.”
Iran had been unable to accept the deal “at that particular moment”, he added.
Mr Kerry said he hoped in the next few months they could “find an agreement that meets everyone’s standards”.
Representatives from Iran and the so-called P5+1 – the US, UK, France, Russia and China plus Germany – will meet again on 20 November.
There has been a denial that the Western camp was divided, not least from the US Secretary of State John Kerry himself.
Speaking in the UAE, he noted that France was as much on board as the other Western players. It was Iran, he said, that “couldn’t take it at that particular moment”.
Mark Hibbs, a Berlin-based nuclear expert, says that might be a diplomatic way of minimising the tensions in the Western camp.
However, he believes the outcome in Geneva was by no means a fiasco. Not only the French, but others in the Western camp, were uneasy at the sudden breakneck pace of the talks.
As Mr Hibbs puts it: “Some of the Europeans were concerned that Washington was moving forward at a pace with which they were not comfortable.”
Iran stresses that its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only, but world powers suspect it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons.
In a separate development on Monday, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Yukiya Amano, said the agency had agreed a “roadmap for co-operation” with Iran to help resolve remaining issues.
Six specific access or information issues will be addressed over the next three months, offering a clear test of Iran’s willingness to provide greater clarity about its activities, says the BBC’s diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus.
Progress between Iran and the IAEA is seen by experts as a vital parallel track to the talks between Iran and the major powers, he says.
Mr Amano said the deal was “an important step”. It opens the way for inspectors to visit a heavy-water plant being built in Arak and the Gachin uranium mine in Bandar Abbas, and for measures requested by the UN watchdog to be implemented.
Tehran says the reactor in Arak is intended for the production of radioisotopes for medical purposes, but its spent fuel will contain plutonium suitable for use in nuclear weapons.
Powers ‘unified’
Some reports said the latest talks failed because France had wanted to place tight restrictions on the facility in Arak.
However, US diplomats said the Iranian government’s insistence on formal recognition of its “right” to enrich uranium had been the major obstacle.
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2013/11/despite-obamas-crushing-capitulation-iran-backs-out-of-nuclear-deal.html#more
Bleb
The name of that village is Lathuile.
Latheron is a google translate switch.
There are 5 camping grounds in Lathuile. Do we know the name of the camping grounds where Saad was staying? It would be much more than coincidence if she was the manager of one of these camping grounds where he was staying a year ago, particularly compared to the timing of the Abadi assassination (same day).
http://www.campingfrance.com/UK/Recherchez-votre-camping/RHONE-ALPES/Haute-Savoie/LATHUILE
Katie
Good that you mention the Arak reactor. That one is the theme of David Albright’s (ISIS) report , too. He was discussing the ARAK reactor in regards to the illicit zirconium pre-forms trade into iran in 2012. He claims in July 2013 that he received that information regarding the illicit zirconium trade ( french zirconium?) from a well informed iranian official (Abadi?).
Yesterday i had a pretty interesting experience.
I discussed the Abadi murder in a discussion board of a local newspaper. I mentioned tge zirconium trade and the possible relation of the ministry of mines, metallurgy and industries with illicit zirconium trade from france. Suddenly somebody popped up into that discussion whom i never saw before. His language skills were non existent and it looked like a google translation from arabic or farsi. At first he said that we are trolls because the nuclear part in iran isnt under supervision of a minister but under direct control of the revolution guards and the president.
When i told him that zirconium is metallurgy and basically has nothing todo with nukes and that it is used in dental implants and in airplane industry as well, he became very upset. He accused me of things and said that i better should not post regarding connecting chevaline, abadi and zirconium any longer if i love my life, or …..
It read to me like a threat.
I did report this post to the newspaper and they deleted that blog threat.
However, somebody is very upset regarding that topic.
I had the suspicion that this was somebody working at an embassy and that he was most likely iranian.
Lathuile victime
http://dirigeant.societe.com/dirigeant/Nicole.COMMUNAL-TOURNIER.92069506.html
Camping
http://www.campingideal.com/fr/
Her daughters are married to the sons of another Savoy mistery death
http://www.lessorsavoyard.fr/Actualite/Annecy/2012/10/06/article_deux_freres_epousent_deux_soeurs_pour_en.shtml
http://www.lemessager.fr/Actualite/Actualite_de_Hte_Savoie/article_1122250.shtml
New (perhaps sensational) genealogy finds.
I stumbled over a facebook site of Ali al Hilli who studied in Glasgow and who lives in London.
His father is Dr.Walid al Hilli, the Iraqi government official.
Facebook site of Ali al Hilli
/ali.alhilli1
Facebook site of his father Dr.Walid al Hilli
/taleem.cor.iq
Website of his father Dr. Walid al Hilli:
http://dr-alhilli.com/
Now, so far there is nothing sensational. However, check the long friends list of Ali al Hilli:
The al Saffar family (there even is a Haider al Saffar).
There is also a Hussain al Saffar whom i did not know so far. He seems to be an Imam in manchester. And of course there is Ahmed al Saffar who was already mentioned in the media.
And there is:
The al Khoei family
The al Hakim family
Of course some al Hillis
The Allawi family
The al Khateeb family
The Attar family
And finally the Abadi family (rings a bell now?).
And to confirm a deeper connection there is even the dentist Dr.Zaid Alabdi one of his facebook friends, that is the same guy who was interviewed in BBC Panorama as having been Saad’s friend.
Any more info on the Immam in Manchester?
Ricki tarr
I am not getting any clues from his facebook page.
/hussain.alsaffar.37
It looks as if he is referring to Imam Hussein a.s. who is a holy shia. Perhaps this is what he is trying to say on his fb page. The photo might be misleading.
Other than that there is another interesting al Saffar in Baghdad:
Akeel Al Saffar (عقيل الصفار) is an Iraqi politician. Al Saffar lived in exile for decades because of the regime of Saddam Hussein. Al Saffar worked closely with coalition forces (mainly British and American) in the lead to the Iraq War. He currently works as Deputy Minister for National Security Affairs. His family live in the United Kingdom.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akeel_Al_Saffar
Akeel al Saffar had quite a few UK-Iraq trading companies during the oil for food period.
http://companycheck.co.uk/director/905983827
http://www.companydirectorcheck.com/akeel-al-saffar
Thats sounds like Saads legend, wasnt it mentioned that saad he helped coalition forces in Gulf War I??? Maybe he was drafted in by Al-Saffar.
Hi all.
A couple of comments earlier on this thread noticed that newest posts on the site have had comments closed. Just to reassure everyone, there’s no mysterious reasons for this – Craig hasn’t had time to post, and the comment threads were in the meantime getting fractious and argumentative. I rather lost interest in daily moderation, so felt it was better to close those to further comments.
However this thread seems to be pootling along quite happily, with very little conflict. As far as I’m aware Craig is happy for it to remain open – he is very busy with other things – so I’ll leave it open for now. Like the Anna Ardin thread, I’m minded to ask that each of these ancient threads now stay (roughly) on the topic for which they were created, so the conflict on the most recent discussions does not get moved here.
Thanks all, carry on!
As always BB (Bluebird
12 Nov, 2013 – 10:07 am) you hit the nail on its head. I wondered why Google wouldn’t render up the location. Only three Kilometers distant certainly places it within spitting distance of the Camping sites SAH stopped at. We could be seeing attempts to kill off witnesses. The inexpressibly incompetent French police predictably only report they have “no track” on the who and why. Even if they have their misdirected obsession with secrecy would probably stop them saying. So what gun was used in this attack? What car? Isn’t it about time the residents of “sleepy” Haute Savoie demanded a bit more from its law enforcement. The fact that the British have provided 24 hour armed guard proves there is continuing real danger in this thing. Someone must know if there is a camp-site connection? If there is anyone linked to the events has reason to be worried.
We appreciate that Jon
12 Nov, 2013 – 1:49 pm. As with these latest shootings there are always developments that have the potential to have a bearing on the Al Hillis’ murder to which we have dedicated ourselves. Of course the subject has gone off the boil in comparison to early days and only a few stalwarts remain but I hope you agree quality has not been compromised and it is a valuable portal for untrammelled responses and so worth keeping open. It would be so interesting to know whether there are still people looking in who do not contribute. Do you have statistics that show “hits” as compared to the number of comments and could you publish them periodically as one of the reasons I keep going certainly, of course I cannot speak for others, is the hope that the points are being picked up by investigation teams and others. Regards to you and Clive who I hope has returned to full strength after his illness. TimV.
‘Clive’…Tim ???
What an interesting exchange BB….but I’m sure you can still sleep safely at night ;-))
Hello Jon, whatever has changed it has worked for me, this past couple of weeks I’ve been able to post on first click……. that was rare before!
The Sky News version of the murder.
Woman Shot Dead By Masked Men In Alps
Sky News – Mon, Nov 11, 2013
A 54-year-old woman has been shot dead at her home in the French Alps, according to local media.
The victim, who has not been named, and her husband ran a popular campsite called ‘Ideal’ near Lake Annecy.
It is believed two masked men broke into the property in Lathuile while the woman was watching television at around 1.40am on Monday morning.
Le Dauphine reported that there was a confrontation during which the husband was hit in the face with the butt of a weapon.
It is understood the intruders fled but then fired shots through the door, one of which hit the woman in the chest.
They then drove away in a car.
The woman died at the scene and her husband was treated in hospital before being released.
Police are unsure of the motive and Annecy prosecutor Eric Maillaud said: “All hypotheses are possible. This may be a burglary gone wrong, or a settling of accounts.”
The murder happened just miles from where members of a British-Iraqi family were killed on a remote road near Lake Annecy.
Saad al Hilli, his wife Ikbal and mother-in-law Suhaila al Allaf were executed as they sat in a parked car.
Mr al Hilli’s two daughters, Zeena, four, and Zainab, seven, survived the attack on September 5, 2012.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/woman-shot-dead-masked-men-alps-164508340.html