Dubai seeks '11 Europeans' for Hamas killing

[Magda Hassan]

Given that six of the passports are said to be UK passports I wonder what the government there will do?

Dubai seeks '11 Europeans' for Hamas killing


Mr Mabhouh was electrocuted and then strangled, reports said

Police in Dubai are to issue arrest warrants for 11 "agents with European passports" suspected of assassinating a top Hamas official last month.
Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was murdered in his hotel room in Dubai on 20 January.
Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement, said he was in Dubai to buy weapons for the organisation and accused Israeli agents of killing him.
Dubai's police chief did not identify the suspects further except to say that one of the 11 is a woman.
But they were a professional hit-squad, most likely sponsored by a foreign power, Dubai's police chief said.
We have no doubts that it was 11 people holding these passports, and we regret that they used the travel documents of friendly countries


Lt Col Dhafi Khalfan Tamim
Dubai police





"We do not rule out the involvement of Mossad (the Israeli secret service), but when we arrest those suspects we will know who masterminded it," Lt Col Dhafi Khalfan Tamim said.
He revealed that the suspects were using six British passports, three Irish, one French and one German passport, he said.
"We have no doubts that it was 11 people holding these passports, and we regret that they used the travel documents of friendly countries," Lt Col Tamim said.
'Suffocated'
Lt Col Tamim said the identities had been passed on to Interpol, as part of an official request for international arrest warrants to be issued.
Mr Mabhouh was electrocuted and suffocated, according to reports last month.
Lt Col Tamim said the suspects had followed Mr Mabhouh into Dubai from Syria, where he lived since 1989, before fanning out to stay at different hotels to avoid detection.
Two Palestinians who aided the team have been arrested, the police said.
Mr Mabhouh was a founder member of the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, and was thought to be behind the kidnap and murder of two Israeli soldiers in 1989 during the first Palestinian Intifada.
The Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades have been responsible for suicide bombings and rocket attacks across Israel.
Israel has refused to comment on the accusations its security forces were behind the killing.

[Carsten Wiethoff]

There seems to be positive evidence for Mossad involvement:

From http://intelligencenews.wordpress.com/20...#more-4453 :
Three women among al-Mabhouh assassins, says journal

February 12, 2010 · 2 Comments

Al-Mabhouh

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Three women were among ten members of a Mossad assassination team that killed a top Hamas official earlier this month in Dubai, according to Intelligence Online. The Paris-based, subscription-only website also said that all members of the Israeli assassination squad that killed Mahmoud al-Mabhouh used European passports to enter the United Arab Emirates. Earlier this week, Dubai police announced that the team consisted of seven people, at least four of whom had used fraudulent Irish passports to enter the Emirates. According to Intelligence Online, one female member of the Mossad hit-team played a central role in the operation, by dressing herself in a generic hotel uniform before knocking on the door of al-Mabhouh’s room at the luxury Al-Bustan Rotana Hotel. As soon as the Palestinian Hamas official opened the door, he was attacked with an electric stunning device by other members of the assassination squad, who then proceeded to inject him with poison in order to make the cause of his death look like a heart attack. Al-Mabhouh’s body was discovered by hotel staff the following morning, January 20. Extrajudicial assassination methods are frequently employed by the Mossad against Palestinian and other Arab and Iranian groups. But if Israeli agents were indeed behind the latest assassination, it would mark the first time only the second time that Israel has targeted killed a Hamas senior official anywhere outside of the Gaza strip.

[Carsten Wiethoff]

Dubai police seems to be serious in its attempt to get to the murderers.

From http://hotterthanapileofcurry.wordpress....ssination/

Police are hunting 11 suspects with European passports, including a woman, for the murder in a Dubai hotel room of a Hamas commander.
The hit team which killed Mahmud al-Mabhuh last month was made up of six British passport holders, three with Irish passports, including the woman, and the holders of a German and a French passport, Dhafi Khalfan said.

Clockwise from top left: British passport holders Louis Graham, Paul Keeley, James Clarke, Melvyn Mildiner, Michael Barney, Stephen Hodes

Irish passport-holders Kevin Daveron, Gail Foliard, Evan Dennings

French national’ Peter Elvinger and ‘German national’ Michael Bodenheimer
All of the suspects left the United Arab Emirates within 19 hours of arriving.
...

[David Guyatt]

Curious that the UK government hasn't made a pubic announcement about this yet? They must, by now, know whether the passports are fake or not. Ditto the other governments.

Was Israel killing two birds with one stone perhaps? Assassinating a Hamas diplomat and framing European nations for it?

[Carsten Wiethoff]

From http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnew...chief.html

A British man in Israel with the same name as an alleged member of a hit squad that assassinated a top Hamas militant in Dubai said his identity had been stolen.

Melvyn Adam Mildiner said he was 'angry, upset and scared' over what he called a misidentification.
Dubai police listed the British national as one of six British men suspected of being part of an 11-man hit squad that killed Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a luxury hotel in the Gulf emirate last month.
But Mr Mildiner, a resident of a town near Jerusalem, today insisted he had nothing to do with the assassination and had never been to Dubai.

Hmmm. Why would the Mossad use the id of a man living in Israel?

[David Guyatt]

It looks that way doesn't it.

[Magda Hassan]

Israeli passports are one of the worst passports to use for travel if you don't want to draw attention to yourself. Pity the poor Israeli schlepping around the world without dual citizenship. Nor would Mossad use legitimate real Israeli passport for operations anyway. British and Irish passports were (and possibly still are) considered very desirable on the black market. Better than US ones. Ubiquitous but low key with universal acceptance. Travelers sell them and many have them stolen.

[Magda Hassan]

From http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnew...chief.html

A British man in Israel with the same name as an alleged member of a hit squad that assassinated a top Hamas militant in Dubai said his identity had been stolen.

Melvyn Adam Mildiner said he was 'angry, upset and scared' over what he called a misidentification.
Dubai police listed the British national as one of six British men suspected of being part of an 11-man hit squad that killed Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a luxury hotel in the Gulf emirate last month.
But Mr Mildiner, a resident of a town near Jerusalem, today insisted he had nothing to do with the assassination and had never been to Dubai.

Hmmm. Why would the Mossad use the id of a man living in Israel?

Mmmm...Like some of the Arab pilots.

[Magda Hassan]

Well, I didn't really think the Irish would be taking out a Hamas leader myself so it must be some one else. Let me think now, who could it be? http://www.independent.ie/opinion/editor...95522.html

Ireland confirms 'Irish' Dubai killers don't exist By Avi Issacharoff and Jack Khoury, Haaretz Correspondents, and Agencies



The three Irish passport-holders accused of taking part in the assassination of a Hamas commander in Dubai last month do not exist, Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday.

The trio of alleged Irishmen identified Monday in Dubai as Gail Folliard, Evan Dennings and Kevin Daveron do not appear in Ireland's records of legitimate passport-holders, said the government.

"We are unable to identify any of those three individuals as being genuine Irish citizens. Ireland has issued no passports in those names," the department said in a statement.



The government added that the Irish passport numbers publicized by Dubai authorities also are counterfeits, because they have the wrong number of digits and contain no letters.

British government sources told the Daily Telegraph earlier Tuesday that the three Irish passport-holders were most likely Mossad agents carrying false documentation.

The Telegraph report came one day after Dubai Police Chief Lt. Gen. Dhahi Khalfan Tamim announced that senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was murdered by an 11-member hit squad of mercenaries carrying European passports.

The group was responsible for killing the Hamas commander in his hotel room on January 20, a slaying that has elicited vows of revenge from the Palestinian militant group.

Dubai will soon issue arrest warrants for the 11 suspects, but Tamim said Monday that he had still not ruled out Israeli involvement. While he did not accuse Israel directly, Tamim did say it was possible that "leaders of certain countries gave orders to their intelligence agents."

"We do not rule out Mossad, but when we arrest those suspects we will know who masterminded it. [We have not] issued arrest warrants yet, but will do so soon," he told a press conference on Monday.

He told reporters that six members of the alleged assassination team held British passports, three held Irish passports, and one each from France and Germany. A leading suspect, who carried a French passport, left Dubai for Munich via Qatar after the killing, Tamim added.

Police released the suspects' photos, names, nationalities and details from their passports, which authorities said were not fake.

"Israel carries out a lot of assassinations in many countries, even in countries it is allied to," Tamim said, adding that Mabhouh may have been killed by electrocution.

The Jordanian government on Tuesday confirmed that it had extradited two Palestinians to the United Arab Emirates authorities in connection with the assassination.

"The extradition took place in accordance with observed legal and official rules and the relevant bilateral agreements," Minister of State for Media Affairs Nabil Sharif said in a statement.

Sharif declined to divulge the identity or the affiliations of the two Palestinians, saying "it was up to the UAE authorities to do so."

The rival Palestinian groups - Hamas and President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement - were involved in verbal exchanges on Tuesday regarding the camp to which the two Palestinian suspects belonged.

At Monday's news conference, Tamim revealed surveillance video of the alleged assassination team arriving on separate flights to Dubai the day before Mabhouh was found dead; the suspects also checked into separate hotels. They paid for all expenses in cash and used different mobile phone cards to avoid being traced, he added.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1150127.html

[Magda Hassan]

From http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnew...chief.html

A British man in Israel with the same name as an alleged member of a hit squad that assassinated a top Hamas militant in Dubai said his identity had been stolen.

Melvyn Adam Mildiner said he was 'angry, upset and scared' over what he called a misidentification.
Dubai police listed the British national as one of six British men suspected of being part of an 11-man hit squad that killed Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a luxury hotel in the Gulf emirate last month.
But Mr Mildiner, a resident of a town near Jerusalem, today insisted he had nothing to do with the assassination and had never been to Dubai.

Hmmm. Why would the Mossad use the id of a man living in Israel?

One thing that is clear from the names that I have seen is that they are not obviously Israeli or Jewish. Fairly generic European/Anglo names.

At least five Israelis 'share names with Dubai hit squad suspects' By Haaretz Service and Reuters Tags: Dubai assassination Photo of 'Melvyn Adam Mildiner' released by Dubai does not match that of U.K.-born Israeli.


At least five Israelis share names with suspects named by Dubai police investigating the January assassination of Hamas leader Mahmoud al Mabhouh, Israel's Channel 2 news reported on Tuesday.

One of the Israelis, U.K.-born Melvyn Adam Mildiner, said he was "angry, upset and scared" over what he swears is a misidentification after Dubai police listed a British national with the same name as one of 11 Europeans suspected of killing Mabhouh in a luxury hotel in the Gulf emirate last month.

Two other British-born Israelis, Paul Kealy and Stephen Hodes, were also named by Dubai, as was another Israeli, Michael Bundheimer, an immigrant to Israel from the United States.
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Reuters named a fifth suspect, Michael Lawrence Barney,while Israel's Channel 10 news reported on Tuesday that a further two Israelis shared names with the suspects, making seven in all - but was unable to name them.

Speaking in British-accented English, Mildiner, resident of a town near Jerusalem, told Reuters he had nothing to do with the assassination and had never been to Dubai.

"I woke up this morning to a world of fun," he said in a sarcastic tone, after Israeli newspapers splashed names and photos of the suspects distributed by Dubai.

"I am obviously angry, upset and scared -- any number of things. And I'm looking into what I can do to try to sort things out and clear my name," he said in a telephone interview.

"I don't know how this happened or who chose my name or why, but hopefully we'll find out soon."

A photo of "Melvyn Adam Mildiner" released by police in Dubai did not match a picture of the Israel-based Mildiner on his Twitter social networking page, though it had some similar features.

"It's not me. Which is one silver lining on this entire story because at least I can point to it and say, 'Look, that's not me. It's not the picture that I have in my passport, and it's not the picture that I have on my face that I walk around with every day', Mildiner said.

"I have my passport. It is in my house, along with the passports of everybody else in my family, and there's no Dubai stamps in it because I've never been to Dubai," he said.

Acknowledging that his name was uncommon, Mildiner said: "There's probably not many of us."

Earlier on Tueday , Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs said that the three Irish passport-holders accused of taking part in the assassination did not exist said on Tuesday.

The trio of alleged Irishmen identified Monday in Dubai as Gail Folliard, Evan Dennings and Kevin Daveron do not appear in Ireland's records of legitimate passport-holders, said the government, adding that the Irish passport numbers publicized by Dubai authorities also are counterfeits, because they have the wrong number of digits and contain no letters.

British government sources told the Daily Telegraph earlier Tuesday that the three Irish passport-holders were most likely Mossad agents carrying false documentation.

The Telegraph report came one day after Dubai Police Chief Lt. Gen. Dhahi Khalfan Tamim announced that senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was murdered by an 11-member hit squad of mercenaries carrying European passports.

Dubai will soon issue arrest warrants for the 11 suspects. Tamim said Monday that he had still not ruled out Israeli involvement. While he did not accuse Israel directly, he did say it was possible that "leaders of certain countries gave orders to their intelligence agents."

"We do not rule out Mossad, but when we arrest those suspects we will know who masterminded it. [We have not] issued arrest warrants yet, but will do so soon," he told a press conference on Monday.

He told reporters that six members of the alleged assassination team held British passports, three held Irish passports, and one each from France and Germany. A leading suspect, who carried a French passport, left Dubai for Munich via Qatar after the killing, Tamim added.

Police released the suspects' photos, names, nationalities and details from their passports, which authorities said were not fake.

"Israel carries out a lot of assassinations in many countries, even in countries it is allied to," Tamim said, adding that Mabhouh may have been killed by electrocution.

The Jordanian government on Tuesday confirmed that it had extradited two Palestinians to the United Arab Emirates authorities in connection with the assassination.

" At Monday's news conference, Tamim revealed surveillance video of the alleged assassination team arriving on separate flights to Dubai the day before Mabhouh was found dead; the suspects also checked into separate hotels. They paid for all expenses in cash and used different mobile phone cards to avoid being traced, he added.

The killing itself took just 10 minutes, Tamim said. Several members of the hit squad followed the Hamas man - even riding with him in the same elevator to determine his room number - and then checked into the room across the hall. Four assassins later entered his room in the Al Bustan Rotana Hotel while he was out, using an electronic device to open the door, and waited for him to return, Tamim said.

Last week the Paris-based journal Intelligence Online reported that Dubai's secret service requested assistance from its counterparts in Egypt and Jordan, and from Interpol. Yet it seems unlikely that Egypt or Jordan could provide much help as both are hostile to Hamas.

The journal said Dubai's government had ordered that Hamas itself be kept out of the probe, but Hamas is conducting its own investigation, with help from Iran and Syria. Top Hamas figures have denied that Mabhouh was en route to Iran.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1150184.html