LONDON, Feb 17, 2009 (AFP) - Mohamed Al Fayed, owner of London's up-scale Harrods department store, will not face charges over allegations of sexual assault on a girl aged under 16, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Mohamed Al Fayed - Photo : Chris Ratcliffe/AFP

The Egyptian-born tycoon, 76, had denied accusations that he kissed a 15-year-old girl at his store in southwest London, and on Tuesday said he was "shocked" that details about the allegations were "leaked" to Britain's media.

The alleged incident occurred in May, and Fayed voluntarily went to a police station to answer questions about the alleged incident in October.

"During the course of a thorough police investigation, extensive inquiries were made and statements were taken from a number of people," said Rene Barclay, the Crown Prosecution Service's director of complex casework.

"Having reviewed those statements and other material submitted to us, we concluded that, in the light of the conflicting evidence and the absence of sufficiently reliable accounts of crucial events, there was no realistic prospect of conviction."

Fayed also owns the English Premier League football club Fulham.