PARIS Bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones, sole survivor of the car crash that killed Princess Diana, has filed a lawsuit targeting Mohamed al Fayed's Paris Ritz Hotel, a legal source said. Al Fayed's spokesman in London issued a statement saying Rees-Jones had never asked the Harrods boss for compensation but did not specifically deny the bodyguard had filed a lawsuit. The spokesman could not be reached for comment.

The legal source in Paris said the complaint by the former Ritz employee, which also cited the company that hired out the Mercedes limousine involved in the accident on August 31, 1997, was for endangering the lives of others. The suit is the latest twist in an increasingly tangled web of clashing interests centered on the high-speed smash, which killed Diana, Al Fayed's son Dodi and driver Henri Paul. Rees-Jones, who was in the front passenger seat, was the only person in the car who wore a seatbelt.

He suffered severe injuries and has told the judge he remembers nothing of the moments immediately before and after the crash. Wealthy Egyptian businessman Al Fayed paid for Rees-Jones's hospital fees, flew him back to England in his helicopter and then gave him a job in his Harrods Department Store. But relations soured when Rees-Jones resigned in April. Al Fayed has said the crash was part of a conspiracy aimed at breaking up his son's romance with the princess.

Last month he branded the ex-bodyguard incompetent and said he should have insisted that everyone wore seatbelts. Rees-Jones was reported to be shocked and angered by the charges. His suit, following French legal practice, was filed against unnamed defendants but its contents made clear he was taking aim at the Ritz Hotel and the car hire firm. (Reuters)