Appeal in Diana photographer case

There is to be a British inquest into Princess Diana

The public prosecutor in Paris has appealed against the acquittal of three photographers who took photos of Princess Diana on the night she died.

The appeal should come to court in the coming weeks, said a lawyer for Mohamed Al Fayed, whose son Dodi also died.

The photographers were acquitted in November of invading the couple's privacy by snapping them in their car.

The appeal could coincide with a British inquest into the death of Diana which will open on 6 January.

It was not clear why the prosecutor's office decided to appeal.

Mr Al Fayed's lawyer Fabrice Dubest told Reuters news agency: "The Paris prosecutor first waited to see whether Mohamed Al Fayed would appeal or not.

"He lodged an appeal at the end of November. The prosecutor decided at the beginning of December to follow."

The photographers - Jacques Langevin of the Sygma Corbis agency, Christian Martinez of the Angelis agency and freelancer Eric Chassery - were among eight paparazzi who followed the couple as they left the Paris Ritz on 31 August 1997.

The Paris court acquitted the men on the grounds that it did not consider the inside of a car to be a private space.

Inquiry plea

An earlier French investigation into charging all eight paparazzi for endangering the couple by chasing their car and failing to assist after an accident came to nothing.

Mohamed Al Fayed, the Egyptian-born owner of London's Harrods department store, launched a civil case instead, leading to the charge against three of the photographers.

He has repeatedly called for a British inquiry into the incident, alleging that British security services were involved in the deaths of the princess and his son.

After failures so far in French and English courts, the businessman has been trying to persuade Scottish courts to hold an inquiry, based on the fact that he has a Scottish home in Easter Ross.

A judge in Edinburgh heard the final submissions in the legal bid this week and will announce his decision next year.