The Austrian authorities say they have arrested a man in Vienna on suspicion of extortion.
They say he had asked for fifteen million dollars from the businessman Muhammed al-Fayed for documents he said related to the death of Mr al-Fayed's son Dodi and Diana, Princess of Wales, in a high speed car crash in Paris last August.
A statement from Mr al-Fayed's company Harrods said the case followed an inquiry by one of his staff into allegations that the British intelligence service and the American CIA were involved in a plot to kill Diana and Dodi.
Mr al-Fayed has frequently asserted they were murdered, but has offered no evidence.
From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
Nobel nomination for Northern Ireland leaders
Russia's top team gets down to work
(From Special Report)
North Pole party for 'Grand Slam' Briton
No deal on arms, says IRA
Bundesbank chief intervenes in bank row
(From Special Report)
Nato military mission for Albania
(From Despatches)
ANC peace team meets IRA prisoners
Pope warns of social calamity of unemployment
Yugoslav government condemn Contact Group
Croatian war crimes suspect arrested in Argentina
Croatia under pressure on Serb refugees
More heads roll in Romanian cigarette smuggling scandal
The Serbian Socialists condemn Contact Group
Leipzig authorities reimpose ban on Neo-Nazi rally
Kinkel warns Milosevic: time running out on Kosovo
Latvian PM survives confidence vote
Russian communist party leader against ratifying START-2 treaty
French jobless below three million