Hit squad hunted for killing of key Hamas leader

Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) -- Dubai authorities issued an international arrest warrant Tuesday for suspects in last month's slaying of a top Hamas official, according to a written statement.

Police Monday identified 11 people -- 10 men and a woman -- suspected in the killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a founding member of Hamas' military wing who had survived at least three other attempts on his life. Al-Mabhouh was killed in his hotel room January 19 hours after he arrived in Dubai from Syria.

Dubai Deputy Attorney General Issam Issa Homeidan said in a statement the warrant was issued "against all the killers of Mabhouh since they committed a premeditated murder on Dubai soil."

The warrant was issued based on United Arab Emirates law and treaties with the suspects' countries of origin, the statement said. "The UAE has an agreement with these nations to hand over any criminal once they are arrested."

Dubai police said Monday the 11 suspects had valid European passports -- one from France, three from Ireland, six from Britain, and one from Germany.

But the British Foreign Office said in a statement Tuesday: "We believe the passports used were fraudulent and have begun our own investigation."

The office said it has offered its "assistance and support" to the investigatators in Dubai.



Video: Dubai killing 'professional'
RELATED TOPICS
Hamas
Dubai
Israel
And the Irish Foreign Ministry said it "was unable to find any record of Irish passports having been issued with details corresponding to the details published today in a number of UAE newspapers.

"We are in ongoing contact with the UAE authorities to try to ascertain the exact facts of the case," ministry spokesman Derek Lambe said in a statement. "To date, we have received no evidence that any Irish nationals were involved."

The French Foreign Ministry said it "is not in position to confirm the authenticity of the French identity document that would be held by one of the suspects in this case."

According to police, the suspects arrived in Dubai the day before the killing. Five of them carried out the crime while the remaining six served as lookouts, police said.

Police identified a man from France as the logistical mastermind. Police allege the man stayed at a luxury hotel in Dubai, but also booked a room at the al Bustan Rotana hotel where al-Mabhouh was killed. The French suspect requested room 237 -- directly across from where al-Mabhouh was staying in room 230, police say, but the suspect apparently never stayed there. Instead, police say the rest of the group used the room to plot the killing and the alleged mastermind left the country before it was carried out.

Footage on security cameras at Dubai International Airport show one of the suspects following al-Mabhouh after he landed, police said. Two others followed him once he arrived at the hotel, police said, taking the same elevator and ensuring al-Mabhouh was staying in room 230.

Police said they believe the suspects entered al-Mabhouh's room about 8 p.m. local time after the hotel cleaning crew finished their rotation on the floor, using an electronic device to gain entry.

Al-Mabhouh entered his room at 8:25 p.m., hotel security cameras and an electronic read-out of his room key show. Police say the killing took no more than ten minutes before the suspects left the room and headed immediately to the airport where they boarded flights to various cities in Europe and Asia, police said.

Before leaving, police said, the group took great care to make sure the room looked orderly, removing anything that might indicate a struggle. The suspects also deliberately turned the safety lock on the room door from the inside in order to suggest the death was normal, police said.

Police did not provide details about the nature of the killing in their statement Monday, but authorities have told al-Mabhouh's family that there were signs of five or six electric shocks on his legs, behind his ears, on his genitals and over his heart. Blood on a pillow led police to believe he was suffocated.

Dubai authorities started investigating immediately, Homeidan said in the statement Tuesday, and ordered an autopsy be conducted on al-Mabhouh. A number of witnesses have been interviewed. The investigation was ongoing, he said, and more details will be forthcoming.

On Monday, Dubai police chief Dahi Khalfan said in a statement that, "The United Arab Emirates does not accept the notion that its land can be used as a battlefield for settling scores no matter what the causes or affiliations of these involved perpetrators can be."

He warned that anyone who tries to "tamper with the country's security or the safety of any resident or visitor of its community will be subject to prosecution and accountability."

At al-Mabhouh's funeral in January in Damascus, Syria, where he spent the last years of his life, mourners speculated that Israel's intelligence unit, Mossad, was behind the assassination. Al-Mabhouh was behind the kidnapping and killing of two Israeli soldiers in 1989, according to Hamas.

Israeli security sources have told CNN that al-Mabhouh was a key link between Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas and he was involved in smuggling arms to Gaza. The same sources also pointed out an arms dealer could have many enemies, not just Israel.

Israel has a stated policy on security matters of neither confirming nor denying involvement.

Just after al-Mabhouh died, Hamas said in a statement his death was an "assassination." Government officials in Israel declined to comment on that statement.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/02/ ... index.html

Hmmmmm