Updated 03/04/10  (Scroll Down)

02/24/10

From BBC News


Dubai identifies 15 new suspects in Hamas killing


Police in Dubai have identified 15 more suspects in the killing last month of a senior member of the Palestinian Islamist militant group, Hamas.

Six of those believed to be responsible for the death of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh had UK passports, while the rest had Irish, Australian and French documents.

Many of the suspects allegedly used credit cards issued by the same bank.

On Tuesday, Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni applauded the killing, which Dubai believes Israel was behind.

Israel has repeatedly refused to confirm or deny its involvement.

One of the founders of Hamas's military wing, the Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades, Mr Mabhouh was found dead in a hotel room in the Gulf emirate on 20 January.

A post-mortem examination report said he had been electrocuted and then suffocated. The suspects gathered in Dubai and dispersed to various locations before pairing up again in different teams and heading off to other destinations

Earlier this month, the Dubai authorities released the names and passport photographs of 11 "agents with European passports" - six from the UK, three Irish, one French and one German.

All four countries have since said the documents were fraudulent.

In a statement on Wednesday, Dubai police said they had now identified a total of 26 27 people suspected of having been involved in Mr Mabhouh's death.
 

the late Mr. Mabhouh

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Remember, just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to get you...

Updated 03/04/10

From Jerusalem Post

'Arabs may have targeted Mabhouh'

By JPOST.COM STAFF AND AP

Hamas man: Jordanian, Egyptian agents tracked terror chief before murder.


Arab countries may be complicit in the January 19 assassination of Hamas terror chief Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, Hamas sources said on Tuesday, according to various reports.

Citing a report by Al-Quds Al-Arabi, Reuters quoted Hamas official Mahmoud Nasser as saying that Jordanian and Egyptian intelligence agencies had probably tracked Mabhouh prior to his assassination.

Nasser told the newspaper that there was evidence showing that Mabhouh had been targeted by moderate Arab countries because he had handled sensitive information concerning the activities of Hamas and other Islamist elements. He added that that assassination may have been carried out earlier than planned.

According to the newspaper, Nasser is in charge of Iran's ties with Hamas and had worked closely with Mabhouh prior to the latter's death.

Additionally, in an interview with Hamas's Al Aksa radio station from Damascus, Nasser confirmed Israeli claims that his boss had supplied weapons to Palestinian terrorists.

Nassar said Mabhouh "never stopped thinking about how to fight the [Israeli] occupation by supplying quality weapons to the Palestinian fighters. "

The aide also described how al-Mabhouh celebrated killing two Israeli soldiers in the mid-1980s by standing on one of the corpses.

Meanwhile on Tuesday, The National reported that Dubai police requested FBI assistance in investigating the assassination of Mabhouh.

The UAE-based English-language paper reported that the US investigators will be charged with probing the ties between the suspects which have been named in the murder and their prepaid credit cards, most of which were issued by the same Iowa bank, Meta. The FBI has also been asked to find links between the alleged assassins and the Israeli Mossad.

According to the report, the FBI neither confirmed nor denied whether any such request had been made.

The National also noted a business link between Payoneer, the Paypal-esque company which had issued the credit cards, and Greylock Partners, a venture capital firm. Moshe Mor, one of Greylock's founders, was reportedly an officer in the IDF's military intelligence branch.

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Coming Tomorrow:

"Mabhouh Suicide Note Found, Hunt for Suspects Called Off."