France opens Paris underpass where Diana died

LONDON: France has opened the Paris underpass, in which Princess Diana was killed alongside her boyfriend Dodi Al-Fayed and their chauffeur Henri Paul in a car crash ten years back, to the public.
 
The decision to allow foot traffic for the first time since 1997 came on Sunday as the 11-member jury at the inquest into the Princess of Wales' death arrived in the French capital on Monday.
 
"As far as the Diana investigation is concerned, there can be no mistakes. France is also, like Britain, seeking complete transparency, and that is why the Alma underpass has been opened in this way," 'The Daily Telegraph' reported here Monday, quoting a French government source as saying.
 
An entourage of at least 50, including the jurors and Coroner Lord Justice Scott Baker, will visit all sites linked to the 1997 tragedy - the crash scene in the Pont D'Alma tunnel, the Ritz Hotel, and the Piti Salptrire Hospital where Diana was declared dead.
 
The French government has assigned specialist officers to every site. These will include armed members of the RAID anti-terrorist unit, CRS riot police and undercover agents from the domestic intelligence agency DST.
 
Their deployment has as much to do with diplomacy as security fears, said the unnamed government source. "Everyone is aware that the British party will be working in public and in very prominent places which naturally poses a security risk," he said.