ST JOHN'S, July 31, 2008 (AFP) - A British doctor critically injured in a shooting that left his new wife dead was to leave Antigua for Wales early Friday aboard an air ambulance, airport officials said.

A Canadian-registered Lear Jet 35 with a five-member crew was to leave St John's just after midnight Thursday and fly to Wales via Wilmington, Delaware in the United States, the officials said.

Police spokesman Cornelium Charles earlier told AFP Benjamin Mullany's family had decided to transfer him to Britain for medical care 'as soon as possible when the air ambulance is available.'

It was not immediately clear if Mullany's parents were to accompany him aboard the Lear jet.

The arrangements were finalized as Antigua's prime minister asked British police to help investigate several unsolved murders there in the wake of the brutal honeymoon shooting.

Medical doctor Catherine Mullany, 31, was shot dead Sunday while her husband, Benjamin, also 31, was left in a coma with bullet wounds to the head and neck.

Assailants shot the couple at their cottage in an incident police here are treating as a robbery 'gone bad.'

In a national broadcast Wednesday, Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer said his government had made a 'formal request of Scotland Yard for its assistance in cracking the number of unsolved murders still on the books.' Scotland Yard refers to London's Metropolitan Police.

A team of detectives from Wales, where the honeymooning couple lived, is already expected in Antigua to help investigate the brutal weekend attack, said Antiguan police.

Antigua hotels and businesses have offered a 130,000 dollar reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for the shooting.

No arrests have been made, although police are pursuing several leads and had been questioning people about the murder.

Antigua Hotels and Tourist Association chairman Ted Isaac said his group has planned a march and memorial service on Sunday in Mullany's honor to show how seriously hoteliers were taking the issue.

'We want the world to understand that we abhor this despicable crime,' Isaac said.

The Mullanys, from Pontardawe, in South Wales, were nearing the end of a two-week honeymoon on the island when they were attacked.

The parents of both victims arrived in Antigua on Tuesday to identify Catherine Mullany's body and visit Benjamin Mullany, fighting for his life in an intensive care ward.

The parents issued a statement, distributed by the Foreign Office in London, asking for privacy.

'We have found some of the stories reported in certain areas of the press insensitive, untrue, and have added to our distress,' read the statement.

'While we understand that media interest in this tragic incident is inevitable, we feel that our privacy has been invaded at an extremely upsetting time for us all.'