Family 'smiling in photos' just before murder in French Alps

GRENOBLE, France (AFP) - Photos of a British-Iraqi family taken just minutes before they were gunned down in the French Alps last month show them smiling and looking relaxed, a prosecutor said on Sunday.

"The two women were smiling. They didn't seem worried. This suggest that they were all relaxed at that time," said prosecutor Eric Maillaud, who is taking a lead role in the investigation of the Sept 5 murders.

Mr Maillaud previously said police were studying photos taken by the family - Mr Saad al-Hilli, 50, his wife Iqbal, 47, and her mother Suhaila al-Allaf, 74, all shot in their car - but had not provided details.

He said they were taken at 3.15pm local time, just over half an hour before a British cyclist gave the alert at 3.48pm when he spotted the bodies and that of another cyclist shot dead after apparently stumbling upon the crime.