Alain van der Biest committed suicide at his mother's near Liege during last might. The politician was being investigated in connection with the murder of former deputy Prime Minister Andre Cools. He had been arrested and then released several times. He had always maintained his innocence.

Several theories have been put forward about Cools' murder. Amongst them, a possible revenge attack relating to mafia dealings. The idea that it may have been a settling of scores by another member or members of the Socialist was also investigates. Alain Van Der Biest took over the post of Interior Minster from Cools in 1990. It is understood he left a suicide note for his wife.

Dutch tourists killed on French motorway

A coach carrying Dutch tourists has collided with an Italian lorry in north-eastern France. Five of the passengers on board, and one of the bus' two drivers, were killed. They were returning from a skiing holiday in Val Morel in south-eastern France. Over 50 passengers on the bus were injured, three of them seriously, in the crash on the A31 motorway near the city of Metz.

The driver of the articulated lorry and his passenger were also killed in the collision. The local prefect said the accident was probably the result of the lorry driver losing concentration. The truck apparently crossed over the central divide on a straight stretch of road. A section of the A31 running north to Luxembourg has been closed. French authorities have started an inquiry into the exact circumstances of the accident.