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Al Fayed announces plan to sue U.S. for release of Diana documents

Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed appear on a surveillance tape at the Ritz Hotel in Paris the night their car crashed, killing them and their driver, Henri Paul

By Raju Chebium
CNN.com correspondent

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed announced plans to file a lawsuit Thursday against the U.S. government, seeking to obtain information on the deaths of Britain's Princess Diana and his son, Dodi. Al Fayed believes the accident that killed the couple three years ago was a conspiracy to prevent his son from marrying Diana.

On Wednesday his Washington lawyer announced that he is suing the United States government and the U.S. intelligence community to force officials to release any documents, audio, videotapes, and other materials that may shed light on the circumstances surrounding the deaths.

Mark Zaid, the attorney representing Al Fayed, said the lawsuit would be filed under the Freedom of Information Act. It will be filed in the U.S. federal court in the District of Columbia around 9 a.m. Thursday.

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Zaid appeared at a news conference Wednesday at the National Press Club saying the United States has a lot of documents and materials that have been kept from the public and may answer many pending questions about the deaths.

"Whether or not that ties to a conspiracy theory is going to have to be left up to everyone who reads those documents, assuming the United States government ever releases the documents," he said.

Fayed, who owns London's Harrods luxury department store, has unsuccessfully tried to subpoena the documents through another U.S. court case.

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New book says Diana, Dodi planned to marry
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World watches as Britain bids farewell to Diana
August 1997
Doctors: Diana's injuries impossible to survive
August 31, 1997
Diana hurt, beau killed in crash
August 30, 1997

The death of Princess Diana
Diana: A Remembrance

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