Earl's widow accused of murder

PARIS - The widow of a British aristocrat bludgeoned to death in France has been placed under formal investigation for "assassination", or premeditated murder.

French investigators now suspect that Djamila M'Barek, a 37-year-old nightclub hostess, hired her brother to kill the Earl of Shaftesbury because he was planning to divorce her after a two-year marriage.

M'Barek, who is of Dutch and Tunisian origin, had previously been accused of being an accessory to a "voluntary homicide", committed by her brother, Mohammed. The accusation against both brother and sister has now been upgraded to "assassinat" or premeditated murder, which carries a potential life sentence.

Anthony Ashley-Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury, 66, a playboy who spent much of his life on the French Riviera, disappeared in November 2004 after booking into the exclusive Noga Hilton hotel on the Cannes seafront.

His battered body was found in a ravine near Theoule-sur-Mer in the French Alpine foothills last April.INDEPENDENT