Diana's former father-in-law cleared of her murder charges

London, Mar 31 (UNI) The judge presiding over the inquest into the death of Princess Diana today cleared her former father-in-law , the Duke of Edinburgh of any involvement in her death.

Mohamed al Fayed, father of Diana's boyfriend Dodi al-Fayed last month sensationally dubbed the Duke of Edinburgh a ''Nazi racist'' and claimed he had conspired with Prince Charles to murder Diana.

But Lord Justice Scott Baker today attacked his theories and insisted neither Philip nor MI6 were involved in her death. The coroner told the jury there was ''no evidence'' that she was murdered by MI6 at the behest of the Duke of Edinburgh.

Opening his summing up to the jury after the six-month hearing, Justice Baker told the jury: ''There is no evidence that the Duke of Edinburgh ordered Diana's execution, and there is no evidence that the secret intelligence service or any other Government agency organised it.'' As he began to go through the evidence of more than 250 witnesses, the coroner swept aside theories he said had been encouraged by the media for the past 10-and-a-half years.

He said many of Mohamed al Fayed's conspiracy theories about the crash were ''so demonstrably without foundation'' that even his lawyer was no longer pursuing them.

''Various propositions were being asserted, have been shown to be so demonstrably without foundation that they are no longer being pursued by Mohamed al Fayed's lawyer, even if he still continues to believe in their truth in his own mind,'' he told the jury.

Princess Diana died in a crash in Paris in 1997 along with Dodi al-Fayed. The inquest has so far cost 10 million pounds.

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