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Originally published Friday, September 7, 2012 at 4:54 AM

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Police searching UK home of family slain in France

Police are preparing to search the U.K. home of a British-Iraqi family brutally slain while vacationing in the French Alps.

The Associated Press

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So where does a "family feud" come in? MORE
glor - it's an AP story and that includes the headline. Think before you speak, please! MORE
In glor's defense, the article was completely different around 10 am and said nothing... MORE

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LONDON —

Police are preparing to search the U.K. home of a British-Iraqi family brutally slain while vacationing in the French Alps.

TV footage Saturday showed police outside of the home of Saad al Hilli in the village of Claygate, a London suburb, putting up an investigation tent on Saturday.

French investigators are expected to search the home later Saturday as part of their investigation into the deaths.

Al Hilli and his wife, Ikbal were shot dead Wednesday along with an elderly, Iraqi-born Swedish woman and a French cyclist in the French Alps.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

Four French police investigators were arriving in Britain on Saturday as part of an investigation into the grisly slayings of a British-Iraqi family vacationing in the French Alps.

The brother of the man shot dead with his wife and two other people came forward to British police on Friday and denied any conflict in the family, as investigators looked into a possible money dispute among the siblings, a French prosecutor said.

Authorities have identified the dead as mechanical design engineer Saad al Hilli and his wife, Ikbal, based partly on the testimony of their 4-year-old daughter Zeena, who survived unhurt by hiding under her mother's skirt as some 25 automatic-handgun rounds were fired.

French cyclist Sylvain Mollier, 45, whom authorities suspect was in the wrong place at the wrong time, was also killed in Wednesday's rampage. Investigators were working to identify a fourth victim, an elderly, Iraqi-born Swedish woman also inside the family's vehicle. Early reports suggested the woman was the grandmother, but that has not been confirmed by authorities.

French authorities, cautious about tipping off the culprit or culprits, have offered only a trickle of clues about the investigation. Police in Surrey, England, said in a statement Friday that the al Hilli family had a residence in the town of Claygate, but they declined to provide details on the investigation.

Eric Maillaud, the prosecutor in Annecy near the site of the killing, said British police reported that Saad may have feuded with his brother Zaid over money.

On Friday, after learning about media reports that cited authorities' suspicion about a possible family dispute, Zaid went to British police and told them, "I have no conflict with my brother," according to Maillaud.

"This brother came forward spontaneously to investigators, first to ask simply about the state of his brother because he heard through British media that his brother was dead," Maillaud said.

But Mae Faisal El-Wailly, a childhood friend of the brothers, made available a letter written to her by Saad last year that alluded to a possible inheritance dispute. She said the brothers' father had died recently, and she described the family as wealthy and well-traveled.

"Zaid and I do not communicate any more as he is another control freak and tried a lot of underhanded things even when my father was alive," Saad wrote. The letter was dated Sept. 16, 2011.

"He tried to take control of fathers assets and demanded control," the letter says. "(A)nyway it is a long story and now I have just had to wipe him out of my life. Sad but I need to concentrate now on my wife and two lovely girls ..."

Public records show Zaid resigned from Saad's small aeronautics design firm, Shtech Ltd., last year.

Maillaud said he had not heard about any possible inheritance issue and that Zaid remains "a free man."

The prosecutor also said it was a "miracle" that the dead couple's other daughter, 7-year-old Zaina, who was shot in the shoulder and beaten, survived. She remained unconscious Friday in a medically induced coma in a Grenoble hospital, under close police guard.

So far, authorities have questioned her 4-year-old sister Zeena, but Maillaud said the girl provided no other details that might advance the investigation.

Investigators were looking for a green or dark-colored 4x4 vehicle and a motorbike, based on a possible witness sighting.

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