EXECUTED: Manhunt continues for assassin who shot Surrey businessman and grandmother in middle of forehead, cracked skull of daughter, 7, and left girl, 4, hiding under dead mother's skirt

• Father named as Saad Al Hilli, a Baghdad-born businessman who lived with his family in Claygate, Surrey
• Police failed to find terrified four-year-old for several hours because 'they didn't want to disturb crime scene'
• Youngster, named by neighbours as Zeena, told police she 'could not tell the difference between the good guys and bad guys'
• Her older sister, 7, named locally as Zainab, was found near car in critical condition after being hit three times over head with a blunt instrument
• A cyclist, named locally as French father-of-three Sylvain Mollier, found dead nearby with gunshots wounds
• British cyclist, a former member of the RAF, put eight-year-old in recovery position after stumbling across scene
• Police investigating possible link to foiled car-jacking by four masked men carrying pistol in town 50 miles away
• President Francois Hollande, speaking in the UK, has said authorities will 'do our utmost to find the perpetrators'
• One neighbour said of Mr Hilli: 'He's not Mr Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. I doubt the establishment wanted to get rid of him.'

Pictured looking relaxed and smiling in a restaurant, this is the British father in the French Alps massacre who it emerged today was known to the intelligence services.
Engineer Saad Al-Hilli, 50, was born in Iraq and was put under Special Branch surveillance during the second Gulf War. He was ambushed with his family on Wednesday during a family caravanning trip.
In 30 seconds of automatic pistol gunfire, Mr Al-Hilli, his dentist wife Ikbal and her mother were assassinated with single shots to the forehead. The couple's seven-year-old daughter Zainab was shot, pistolwhipped and left for dead.

Saad Al-Hilli, 50, was ambushed with his family on Wednesday during a family caravanning trip. Neighbours confirmed this picture is of the murdered father

Bullet-ridden: Police gather evidence from the BMW estate where Saad Al-Hilli and his family was massacred by a suspected assassin

Delayed reaction: Several hours after police arrived on scene, Mr Al-Hilli's four-year-old daughter Zeena was found alive huddling under her mother's legs inside the car

Crime scene: French gendarme police escort the car involved in the shooting of the British family away from the area

Her little sister Zeena, four, was unharmed and hid under her dead mother's legs for eight terrifying hours before police finally discovered her.
A French cyclist, father-of-three Sylvain Mollier, who is believed to have witnessed the bloodbath, was also shot dead. With both children under armed guard in hospital, pictures of the extraordinary scene in the forest near Lake Annecy emerged showing the bullet-riddled BMW estate car.

Spent cartridges littered the area around it. As police launched an international manhunt for the assassin, it emerged that:
■ British intelligence officers were sent to the scene within hours as they urgently re-examined their files on Baghdad-born Mr Al-Hilli;
■ Neighbours said he was grappling with a 'problem' and went on holiday despite Zainab missing the start of the school term;
■ A friend of Mr Al-Hilli spoke of a rumbling inheritance dispute within the family;
■ Police said clinical shots to the centre of the foreheads bore the hallmarks of a professional assassination.

The bodies being taken away from the scene in a private ambulance escorted by police

The gunman shot dead four people in an apparent ambush on a British family in the Alps could have been a professional killer, police have said

Tragedy: French police on guard near the site of the brutal slaying

Response: A firefighter and rescue vehicle, which can provide medical assistance and transport victims to hospital, passes a police officer at the scene of the killings

Mr Al-Hilli lived with his 47-year-old wife and daughters in a £1million home in Claygate, Surrey.
He earned up to £28 an hour as a freelance engineer and his CV reveals he worked on projects including designing a 'plasma generator' for a company called Surrey NanoSystems Ltd.
Before that he helped design a satellite for Surrey Satellite Technology, based  in Guildford, and ten years ago he worked for another company engineering parts  for the 'aircraft, military and medical industries'.

French police inspect a drain under the road to the murder scene at Cheverlaine near Annecy

The four year-old was discovered by investigators from the gendarmerie at midnight eight hours after the massacre took place

Air support: Gendarmes gather around a police helicopter which was drafted in to help in the hunt for the gunman or gunmen

It is understood that Mr Al-Hilli has been known to British intelligence officials for around 20 years.

In 2003, during the U.S. and British invasion of Iraq, officers working with the intelligence services mounted a surveillance operation on his home for several weeks, a neighbour who hosted them told the Mail.
The internet is awash with speculation – impossible to verify – that Mr Al-Hilli may have been working in some capacity in the spy world. He arrived in Britain in the late 1970s and was educated to degree level.

London link: Plain-clothes police officers stand outside of the home of Saad Al-Hilli in Claygate, Surrey

London link: The home of Saad Al-Hilli in Claygate, Surrey

'Bright kid': Mr Al Hilli worked at Swindon-based aerial photography company, AMS 1087, which is linked to this accountancy business

French Police officers talk to locals close to the spot where the massacre happened. A French source said the four-year-old was found hiding underneath her mother's legs. The two other bodies were believed to be those of her father and grandmother

Tragic: French Police officers cordon off the road leading to the scene where four people died in a shooting at a parking in Chevaline near the Annecy Lake

'Bright kid': Mr Al Hilli worked at Swindon-based aerial photography company, AMS 1087, which is linked to this accountancy business

FRENCH POLICE 'SHOULD HAVE CHECKED FOR SIGNS OF LIFE', SAY UK FORENSICS EXPERTS

Forensic experts said the first job for police who arrived at the crime scene should have been to check for survivors.
But it could be that the first officers called to the rural beauty spot in the French countryside simply 'panicked' when confronted with the horror.
In the UK, a doctor would be called to certify death - doing so, in this instance, could have alerted officers that the child was alive amidst the carnage in the car.
Jim Fraser, professor of forensic science at the University of Strathclyde, said the first responsibility for officers confronted with such a crime scene is to check the victims for signs of life.
It has been known for victims even with gunshot wounds to the head to live for hours and survive if they get emergency treatment.

He said: 'The overriding responsibility to the first responder at a crime scene, in the UK, would be to ensure that all individuals present are accounted for, their health and welfare, with an initial but thorough look at the crime scene.'

Prof Fraser said of such multiple death crimes: 'It's a pretty horrible scene - not for the faint-hearted.'

Forensic experts say it is a fiction to think murder scenes are preserved in pristine condition until they are examined by crime scene investigators.

Only after police have carried out their duty to preserve life and certify death do they 'freeze the scene'.

Intelligence officers from the British Embassy in Paris are said to have been at the scene of the murder hours after it happened at 4pm (3pm UK time) on Wednesday.
They were tipped off by contacts in the French Interior Ministry as soon as the identity of the car's owner was confirmed. According to the French TV station Demain, locals described embassy staff as being 'military type' and numbering around 20.
Last night David Cameron described the deaths as 'terrible', adding: 'I have spoken to the British Ambassador in France and consular staff are working very hard so that we do everything we can ... and to find out what happened in this very tragic case.
'Obviously the faster we can get to the bottom of what happened, the better.'
French President Francois Hollande pledged that the authorities would do their 'utmost to find the perpetrators'.
Julian Stedman, Mr Al-Hilli's accountant, said: 'They were shot through the head  so that sounds like a professional killing, which is really very worrying. A casual killer would not do that. The reason for that – I haven't a clue.'
Another neighbour, Jack Saltman, fuelled the mystery by saying: 'I know one little thing which I am not prepared to speak about at the moment. He told me about a problem he had. I have told the police what I know.'
A family friend, Zaid Alabdi, 48, said there was a row centred around money and properties in the UK, Spain and France following the death of Mr Al-Hilli's father a year ago.
'They're a lovely family who worked hard and had no enemies. This may well not be relevant but it is the only problem I can think of in their lives.'
French police are facing growing incredulity that four-year-old Zeena was left in the car with the corpses of her family for eight hours, but justified it by saying they did not want to disturb the crime scene.
Public prosecutor Eric Maillaud said she was 'terrorised, immobile, in the midst of the bodies'.

Making enquries: French investigators had begun inspecting Le Solitaire du Lac campsite at Saint-Jorioz, where the murdered family are believed to have been staying

Gathering clues: A French gendarme stands guard near the caravan thought to have been used by the family

He said: 'We discovered the little girl that nobody had seen, because she hadn't moved, completely in shock and completely frozen.'
He said the girl's older sister – beaten three times over the head – 'seems to be pulling through', though she has a fractured skull.
He described the murders as an 'act of gross savagery'.
A British cyclist who had been in the RAF stumbled upon the scene after originally being overtaken by Mr Mollier a few minutes earlier.
The first thing the cyclist saw was the bloodied figure of Zainab stumbling about in the road next to the BMW, which still had the engine running.
Police said the motive for the attack remained a mystery but revealed there were signs of a vehicle braking at the scene.

Sombre: One camper said the atmosphere at the site was 'heavy, nobody is speaking'

Reported missing: The family were believed to have been staying at a campsite in Saint Jorioz (above)

Terrified, the little girl cowered under her murdered mother's skirt. Why didn't police find her for 8 hours?

By Nick Fagge and Claire ELLICOT and SAM GREENHILL
When police eventually prised open the rear door of the BMW estate, four-year-old Zeena Al-Hilli was 'frozen stiff with terror' and cowering under her dead mother's skirt.
Her first words as she was led away from the car were: 'Where is Mummy? I want my Mummy!'
But after that instinctive outburst, it was difficult to coax any more words from a child who by this time 'could not tell the difference between the good guys and bad guys'.

Grim: Three of the corpses - two women and a man - were in a car parked in a forest lay-by in hills next to Lake Annecy, in France's Haute-Savoie region

Confusion: Earlier reports had suggested the young girl had died in the attack, but later the prosecutor who had announced her death issued a correction and she is fighting for life at Grenoble's CHU hospital

Last night there was growing incredulity that a small child had been left inside the bloodbath of a car for an incredible eight hours until midnight on Wednesday.
For most of that time, French police were actually standing yards away but had simply assumed everyone in the car was dead.
It was only when they interviewed fellow holidaymakers at the campsite where the family were staying that police realised they should have been looking for two girls after all. They then found that Zeena, too young to understand what had been going on, had pitifully clung to her mother's body all evening.

Killed: The identity of the cyclist was not revealed but police believe he may have tried to intervene during a suspected armed robbery attempt on the family in the roadside rest area

Press: Annecy prosecutor Eric Maillaud answers to journalists on the road leading to the scene - he confirmed the young girl was not dead and was in intensive care

Closed off: A firemen and rescue vehicle is driven on the road leading to the grisly scene

Her father and grandmother were also dead in the car while her elder sister Zainab had already been airlifted to hospital to save her life. But after all the 'noises and shouting' – her words to describe the moment a hitman slaughtered her family – traumatised Zeena had stayed completely silent, daring not move.
Zeena and seven-year-old Zainab – who is thought to have been pistol-whipped in the attack – are the only survivors of the bloodbath. In a hail of gunfire, the three adults were summarily executed along with a passing cyclist with precision shots to their foreheads.
After the alarm was raised by another cyclist, police were on the scene within minutes, and found seriously-injured Zainab bleeding near the car. She was airlifted to hospital in Grenoble for life-saving surgery on her fractured skull.

CALLS FOR GREATER GUN CONTROL IN FRANCE AFTER MASSIVE INFLUX OF WEAPONS FROM EASTERN EUROPE

Gun control has shot to the top of the political agenda in France in recent years because of massive influx of weapons from Eastern Europe.
Largely un-policed border crossings with countries like Italy have seen thousands of guns pouring into major cities over the past few decades from countries like Serbia and the Ukraine.
This has led to a huge increase in the number of criminals brandishing weapons, especially drugs gangs and ones linked to the Italian and  Russian mafia.
Officially two million members of the French population, including hunters and sportsmen, are allowed guns, but they are strictly licensed.
But in 2010 a total of 2710 guns were seized by police – representing a 79 per cent increase on 2009.
A parliamentary commission last year concluded that the fall of the Soviet Union, and the end of the Balkans’ Wars, in the 1990s had let to a glut of weapons, made of which had made their way to the west.
On March 6, just five days before Merah committed his first murder, a bill enforcing tougher penalties for those caught selling guns illegally became law. It means that anyone now found guilty of gun trafficking can get up to seven years in prison, and a fine equivalent to £75,000.
There was outrage earlier this year when Mohammed Merah, a 23-year-old French Algerian, went on shooting rampage around the south west city of Toulouse which left seven dead.
Despite having known links with terrorist groups linked to Al-Qaeda, Merah had managed to easily get hold of an Uzi submachine gun, a Colt Python pistol, a shotgun, and three .45-caliber pistols.
All are thought to have been bought for a few hundred euros each on France’s black weapons market. The current price for a Kalashnikov in the crime-ridden Mediterranean city of Marseille is around £500.
Claude Bodin, a conservative MP who co-authored the bill, said it aimed to ‘give the judiciary the resources to punish heavily all those who own guns illegally and use them.’
The Merah killings, and ones like the slaughter which has taken place in the Alps this week, will now lead for calls for even greater

Giving more details of the murders yesterday, French officials described the moment her little sister was finally rescued hours later. Public prosecutor Eric Millaud said: 'When our detectives went into the car, they discovered a little girl, who was frozen stiff and uninjured.
'She had stayed beside her mother's body for almost eight hours, and had not moved during all this time.
'She spoke a little in English, saying she had heard noises and shouting, but did not say any more. She is only four years old. She was taken away and put under protection. She could not tell the difference between the good guys and bad guys.
Lieutenant-Colonel Benoit Vinnemann justified the police's extraordinary failure to find Zeena sooner, saying that they had not wanted to disrupt the crime scene.
They feared vital evidence would be lost if they examined the car before forensic experts arrived from Paris.
Because there was only one child seat fitted in the BMW 5-series estate, they wrongly assumed Zainab had been the only youngster in the car.
At one stage a helicopter equipped with thermal cameras flew over the BMW, but failed to detect the small survivor.
This is thought to be because she was hidden under her mother's body, which would still have been emitting some heat.
In fact, the penny dropped only when a fellow holidaymaker at the lakeside Le Solitaire du Lac campsite told police the family had two children. Lt-Col Vinnemann said: 'Our role was to preserve the crime scene.
'To search the car thoroughly would have to lead to the loss of fundamental ballistic evidence.' He said that when the officers realised their mistake, three detectives were helicoptered to the scene with others following in a car.
They arrived around midnight, and 'within ten minutes they had found the second young girl', he said. 'The girl was found under her mother's skirt in amongst travel bags. She was glad to see someone. She immediately asked where her family was. The officers spoke to her in English.
'She is now being cared for in hospital. Physically, she is doing very well.' Officers are now desperately hoping Zeena and Zainab will be able to tell them what happened.
Yesterday tourists at the campsite where the family were staying spoke of their shock at what happened.
Dutchwoman Sandy Rombout, 39, said the Al-Hillis had arrived at the site on the shores of Lake Annecy at around 4pm on Monday in their dark-red BMW, which had a mountain bike on a roof rack.
'They had a small caravan and pitched a large tent to one side and a second tent at the back,' she said.
'They seemed like a normal nice family. The kids were playing outside the caravan and the dad came out and was showing the younger one how to ride her bike.
'They were very friendly and said hello to people. We saw them sitting in their tent and also having a barbecue outside at night.'
Another Dutch visitor said the  family seemed to have problems with their car because every day he saw the father pumping air into the right-hand rear tyre of the BMW.
He said the grandmother had been picking fallen apples and giving them to the children. 'They were very friendly and the children played with the other kids in the play area. I heard them speaking English outside the caravan but they also spoke what I thought was Arabic inside.'

British cyclist saved battered daughter's life

By Nick Fagge
An RAF veteran and keen cyclist almost certainly saved the life of seven-year-old Zainab in the moments after the forest murders.
The Briton was following a popular cycling route around the lake and into the surrounding countryside when he came across the horrific scenes near the village of Chevaline.
The unidentified man, who also provided police with vital evidence of vehicles leaving the scene, was described as a hero. Prosecutor Eric Maillaud said: 'He should be congratulated on his swift actions.'

Tourist destination: Lake Annecy in France's Haute-Savoie region, it is a magnet for British holidaymakers

The cyclist, who has a holiday home in the area, noticed the British-registered BMW estate in the forest car park and went to investigate.
He discovered the engine was running before he spotted a girl near the front of the vehicle fall to the ground. He immediately put her in the recovery position and called the emergency services from his mobile phone at 3.48pm on Wednesday.

But he grasped the full extent of the horror only after he smashed the driver's side window to reach in and turn off the engine.
This was when he saw the bodies – the man at the steering wheel and two women in the back – two shot in the face. Then he saw a cyclist slumped on the ground near his bike, also shot dead.
This same man had overtaken him only moments earlier on his bike ride. Lt Col Benoit Vinnemann of  the Chambery gendarmes, said: 'The main witness, a cyclis who discovered the grisly scene, said he was overtaken by another cyclist on the climb that leads to the parking lot where the shooting took place.

Tourist destination: The attack took place close to Doussard, which is full of holiday lets and hugely popular with British people during the summer months

'Arriving there, he found the cyclist on the ground with gunshot wounds near a car. In the vehicle, a man and two women, has also been shot.

'On the other side of the car, a child of 6-8 years old was alive. He placed her in the recovery position until help arrived. She had been very badly beaten.'

Lt-Col Vinnemann said that the Briton had seen 'various cars leaving the scene including a 4x4'. Prosecutor Maillaud said the ordeal of what the RAF man had witnessed had left him in 'a great deal of shock'.

Peter Ricketts, the British Ambassador to France, said: 'He appears to have been extremely professional. If he needs any support we are here to help.'

The murdered French cyclist,  Sylvain Mollier, 45, was a father of three from nearby Ugine. He was on paternity leave from his job at a company producing stainless steel products.
His wife alerted police when he failed to return home from his bike ride. Prosecutor Maillaud said: 'It would appear he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.'

Zainab and her four-year-old sister Zeena were yesterday under armed guard at Grenoble University Hospital.
Following the attack, in which Zainab is believed to have been pistol-whipped, doctors induced a coma but she is believed to be out of danger and her condition has stabilised. Zeena is receiving psychiatric care.

Chilling echo of Rachel Nickell case

By MICHAEL SEAMARK

Chilling echo: Rachel Nickell, who was brutally murdered on Wimbledon Common

The ordeal of four-year-old Zeena Al-Hilli has chilling echoes of the Rachel Nickell murder, when her son was left clinging to her body.

Alex Hanscombe was a month short of his third birthday when Miss Nickell was killed in front of him on Wimbledon Common in 1992. The little boy, covered in blood, was found by a passer-by clinging to her, crying: 'Get up, mummy.'

Miss Nickell, 23, was stabbed 49 times and sexually assaulted by paranoid schizophrenic and serial rapist Robert Napper as she walked with Alex and their dog, Molly.

In an interview in the Daily Mail last year Alex, 23, said: 'You don't remember everything from when you are small, but you remember the big things – those that can change your life. I clearly remember walking in the park with my mother and Molly and being pushed over by a man, who then attacked my mother. I knew something bad was happening.

'I saw the knife in his hand and when I saw her lying on the ground covered in blood, I realised the consequences of that act. I wasn't quite three but, even so, I knew my mother was never coming back.'

Alex's father Andre took his son to France, then on to Spain, to escape the 'goldfish bowl' of public attention. He credits his father with giving him the security and protection he needed as he struggled to adapt to the loss of his mother.

Alex said: 'I have never been back to Wimbledon Common and I don't visit my mother's grave. If you are living in the past or the future it means you are not living in the moment.'

Alex, a talented guitarist who studied at music school, 'forgave' his mother's killer even before he knew who he was. 'Until you forgive, you can never move on with your life,' he said.

'I don't feel damaged by what happened. I had my mum for the first few years of my life – the most important ones – and being angry or upset isn't the way to go.'