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Rees Jones vs Al-FayedTrevor Rees Jones, the bodyguard who was the sole survivor of the crash which killed Diana, Princess of Wales and D...

Rees Jones vs Al-Fayed

Trevor Rees Jones, the bodyguard who was the sole survivor of the crash which killed Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Fayed in August last year, is suing his former employer, Mohamed al-Fayed, his solicitor said. Rees Jones claims the owner of Harrods department store in London has broken a written agreement to pay his legal costs in connection with the investigation into the tragic car accident in August 1997 in Paris.

8220;Mr Al-Fayed agreed to pay Mr Rees Jones8217; legal costs and has failed to do so,8221; said the solicitor of the former bodyguard, Ian Lucas, who added that the Egyptian millionaire and father of Dodi had cut off funding after making only one payment. 8220;There was a written agreement which has been broken,8221; the solicitor said. The court action in England began a month ago, he revealed. A spokesman for al-Fayed, Laurie Mayer, for his part said that the Harrods boss had payed the legal costs of the bodyguard until Rees Jones left his employment inApril.

Spielberg8217;s Cross

Germany awarded film director Steven Spielberg its highest honour, the Federal Cross of merit, for his work in preserving the memory of the Holocaust. In an emotional ceremony, Spielberg described the prize as one of his greatest honours and said he had been particularly pleased to see that his 1994 film drama on the Holocaust, Schindler8217;s List, has had a powerful impact in Germany. 8220;All of us know that is a tribute to the power of films, and in particular to one film which addresses the challenges which face all of us,8221; Spielberg said after receiving the honour from President Roman Herzog at the presidential palace. The director wept openly when the clarinetist Giora Feidman emerged from the 550 guests assembled for a dinner in Spielberg8217;s honour and played the haunting theme music to Schindler8217;s List.

An extra guard

The mother of exiled Chinese dissident Wang Dan said she had returned from visiting her son in the United States only to find twopolicemen outside her door. 8220;We got back from the airport last night and there were two policemen outside our door,8221; Wang Lingyun said in a telephone interview. 8220;Normally, since Wang Dan went to the United States in April there has only been one,8221; she added. Wang Dan, a student leader in the 1989 pro-democracy movement, was released from jail on medical parole on April 19 on condition he went immediately to the US. His mother had campaigned long and hard for his release and Chinese authorities eventually gave her permission to travel to the US in late June. 8220;It felt like a very short trip, but Wang Dan acompanied us everywhere and it was very relaxed and free,8221; she said. 8220;He is beginning the new semester at Harvard and as he cannot come back to China I hope I can go and visit him again,8221; she added.

Allowed to oppose

China8217;s communist government may permit the establishment of the first Opposition political party since 1949, outspoken dissidents in eastern Shandong province said. 8220;We wentto the Shandong Civil Affairs Bureau and officials said they were considering an application to register the Shandong preparatory committee of the China Democracy Party CDP,8221; activist Xie Wanjun told the AFP. 8220;They said they had four conditions and we had 20 days to fulfill them,8221; he added. The four conditions were that the party had a capitalisation of 6,000, that details of its headquarters and main organisers were provided, and that there were at least 50 named members in the party. 8220;The officials looked at all our existing documentation very carefully and I think that it is possible that the application will be approved,8221; Xie said. 8220;In my judgement, such decisions are not made by local officials and it is quite possible that they received directives from the top leadership of the Communist Party,8221; he added. Exiled dissidents in the United States said they were cautiously optimistic over the development.