There was no plan to kill Diana: MI6 spy

Britains Secret Intelligence Service MI6 had absolutely no interest in Princess Diana, or her lover Dodi Al Fayed, but did have a file on Mohamed Al Fayed, the inquest into the couples deaths has heard.

London, Feb 27 : Britain's Secret Intelligence Service MI6 had absolutely no interest in Princess Diana, or her lover Dodi Al Fayed, but did have a file on Mohamed Al Fayed, the inquest into the couple's deaths has heard.

A manager working for the Secret Intelligence Service said she could find no files on either the Princess or Dodi in MI6's database.

Dodi's father Mohamed al Fayed maintains that the car crash which killed his son and Diana in Paris in August 1997 was the result of a plot orchestrated by MI6 at the behest of the Duke of Edinburgh.

However, the MI6 agent, identified only as "Miss X", said there was "no plan whatsoever".

Testifying at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, which was cleared of everyone except the jury, lawyers, interested parties and courtroom staff, iss X said she had searched the MI6 files after officers from Operation Paget, the Metropolitan Police investigation into the deaths of the Princess and Dodi Fayed in a Paris car crash in 1997, contacted the service in 2004 asking to see any relevant documents.

Ian Burnett QC, counsel to the inquest, questioned Miss X about the Princess and her boyfriend, asking: "No cards for either and no files for either?"

She replied: "Absolutely correct".

When asked about Prince Philip, she said MI6 did not hold files or cards on the Royal Family.

"I would just like to say at this stage sir we don't hold one, either files or cards on the royal family. I could do a search on all of them," she said.

However, Miss X told the jury that a card had been opened on Mohamed Al Fayed in the 1980s. There were also records of the Harrods owner appearing in secure telegraphic messages sent by MI6 staff with the earliest dating to July 1994.

Miss X said Fayed's card had 14 entries on it, but added that these were "insignificant, indirect references".

She was also questioned about whether there was MI6 guidance on when force or threat of force would be acceptable.

"We do not go around killing people. It is simply not done," she said.

ANI