HK murder fears over France's most wanted

French police believe the coyuntry's most wanted man, Karim Ouali, is probably in Hong Kong and they are "99 percent sure" that he will commit another gruesome criminal offense.

Despite the French warning, Hong Kong police said it will not comment on an individual case. It could be difficult to hand over the man, even if he was found, as an extradition treaty between Hong Kong and France was shelved following last year's unrest.

Ouali, 44, who worked as an air-traffic controller at the EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg in Mulhouse, eastern France, allegedly murdered his colleague Jean Meyer in 2011.

French police said Ouali attacked Meyer with an ax at the airport traffic control tower where they both worked.

They believe Ouali fled to Switzerland after the murder but later fled to Macau and Hong Kong. In 2014, he was arrested and briefly imprisoned in Hong Kong after authorities found he had forged his passport and illegally entered the city.

Ouali disappeared again in 2016. But the French police received an anonymous tip-off in 2018, saying he is still in the city.

"There is no further evidence that he has left Hong Kong," Jacques Croly, the head of the French fugitive arrest and search team, told Sky News.

"He had to hand over his passport to the Hong Kong authorities so he's now undocumented," Croly said.

"He's a guy who doesn't belong to organized crime or organized groups. He has no hidden money, no hidden cash somewhere, so he has to make a new life in Hong Kong - he has a new wife, a son, probably new friends."

Croly said Ouali suffered from depression and he was also paranoid and schizophrenic.

He described Ouali as "a danger to anyone he comes across" and said those who meet him should be aware of that.

Ouali was said to be a clever person who sent French police a lot of false leads.

He had altered his passport by changing the O in his surname to a Q and sent his mobile phone away through the post to prevent police from tracking him down.

Croly said authorities in France and Hong Kong had worked together on the case, but Ouali remains at large and they are now making a public appeal for information.

"If anyone has any information on this guy, the only thing to do is to report it to the police or connect on the European Union most-wanted website where we can receive anonymous tip-offs any moment, any time," Croly said.

"The crucial point is that the public in Hong Kong is fully aware of how dangerous this guy is. We would be devastated if someday we hear that he was involved in another crime. We would not be able to forgive ourselves."

The Hong Kong police force refused to reveal if they have received information about Ouali from French authorities, saying police do not comment on individual cases.

In August, the French foreign ministry said it halted the ratification of the extradition treaty with Hong Kong after the national security law was imposed.