CAIRO, NOV 5: An Egyptian lawyer who has filed a number of unsuccessful suits in the name of Islam on Tuesday brought one against Queen Elizabeth, claiming she was responsible for the death of Princess Diana.

The lawyer repeated a rumour that has circulated in the Middle-East since Diana's death that she and her Egyptian-born boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, were killed by the British intelligence service because the royal family didn't want the Princess to marry a Muslim.

Attorney Nabih el-Habishi said that he was seeking 100,000 pounds sterling for each of the world's muslims. ``As a Muslim this incident has caused me a lot of psychological and moral damage,'' El-Habishi said. Diana, Fayed and their driver were killed in a car crash on August 31 in Paris. Earlier this year, El-Habishi tried to file a lawsuit against the Egyptian lawyer who defended an Israeli Arab on spying charges, but it was turned down for lack of substance.

Meanwhile, in Cape Town, Britain's Prince Charles paid a rare tribute to the work of his ex-wife, the late Diana, saying it held great significance for Africa.

``Over the last few days, I have been made very aware of the special importance to Africans of Diana's work to combat such things as AIDS, poverty, and the use of landmines'', Charles said at a banquet thrown in his honour by South African President Nelson Mandela. The Prince of Wales said the ``bonds'' between South Africans and Britons ``were demonstrated most clearly after the tragic and untimely death of Diana. Although Earl Spencer, Diana's brother, attended the banquet, Charles did not make mention of her family during his 20-minute speech, at the end of which he was given a standing ovation.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.