Family lawyer Bernard Dartevelle: his client was "obsessed" with security

Mohammed Al Fayed Determined to "Establish the Truth"

Bernard Dartevelle, retained by Mr Fayed to launch a civil action over the car crash in which the Princess died alongside his own son Dodi, said his instructions were "to establish the whole truth - and I mean the whole truth - however painful or disagreeable the facts may turn out to be".

Speaking in his fourth floor office in the heart of Paris, Mr Dartevelle said he could bear personal witness to the concerns of Mr Fayed about the Princess's security whenever she was in the company of the family - and Dodi in particular - either in Paris, or on the French Mediterranean coast, where the couple had recently spent so much time together.

The lawyer acknowledged the dramatic news from Paris police headquarters that the driver of the Mercedes carrying the couple was way over the legal driving limit in France. But he said the root cause of the crash was "those harassing photographers".

Mr Dartevelle, said his client was determined to continue with the civil action against the photographers.

Defending the driver, Henri Paul, saying he was "not known as a drunkard". He said the photographers were guilty of "involuntary violence".

"If the photographers had not been there, then the security guards at the Ritz would not have had to organise a decoy and Dodi Fayed would have had his usual driver. Henri Paul was not known as a drunkard. He had not been drinking at the Ritz that night," he said.

He said: "Mr Al Fayed is determined to take legal action in a civil court against the photographers even if there are no criminal charges. Whatever the fault of the driver, we have a chain of events which at its origins was an offence."

He said the photographers were guilty of "an assault on the private lives of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed which is a criminal offence in France". But he conceded: "If the driver was drunk and this is confirmed then that would be a drink-driving offence."

Car Was Surrounded by Motorcycles, Says Lawyer

Mr Dartevelle said a witness had already volunteered information after the accident, informing the director of the Ritz Hotel that the Mercedes had been surrounded by motorbikes.

"This witness was driving along the same route and when he looked in his rear-view mirror he saw the Mercedes approaching. There were so many motorbikes around it, that he thought it was an official cortege. He says one of the motorbikes passed in front of the Mercedes. I have no more information and I do not, of course, know the credibility at the moment of this witness," he said.

He revealed that earlier on Saturday evening, after the couple had flown into Paris from Sardinia, they had been confronted by photographers on the Champs Elysses.

Later, after dining at the Ritz, they left the hotel and, said Mr Dartevelle, it was obviously the driver's job to "get away from there fast".

"Lady Diana and Dodi Al Fayed have always had an unambigious attitude. They have always said they want privacy in their lives. If we find in investigating his tragedy that their privacy was invaded and that they were put in danger as a result, we will take the necessary action," he added.