Earl's relative to be extradited

The earl was last seen at a hotel in Cannes in early November

The brother-in-law of the missing Earl of Shaftesbury, who is suspected of his murder, is to be extradited from Germany to France.

Mohamed M'Barek, 40, is the brother of the earl's estranged third wife Jamila.

The earl, Anthony Ashley-Cooper, who owned property in Sussex, London and France, went missing in Cannes in 2004.

His wife and her brother were arrested on suspicion of murder last month. Mr M'Barek was arrested in Munich and will be handed to French authorities.

Newspaper claims

Jamila M'Barek, 37, has allegedly confessed to playing a part in the earl's disappearance.

French newspaper Le Parisien reported claims by the earl's third wife she wanted her brother to "intimidate" the earl so an allowance paid to her would continue, but then "a violent quarrel broke out".

Her lawyer Franck de Vita, denied the woman asked her brother to threaten her husband.

The earl vanished from a hotel in Cannes on 6 November and although his body has not been found, he is presumed dead.

Officers from Sussex Police said in December they were treating the earl's disappearance as murder and travelled to the Cannes area to make inquiries, but have handed the investigation over to French police.

Court officials announced on Monday that Mr M'Barek would be extradited to France next week.