Dubai: Dubai`s police chief on Sunday said that
the killers of a key Hamas commander have been identified and
legal measures are being taken in collaboration with Interpol
to apprehend them since they have left the Gulf emirate.
A statement from the Dubai government media office said
the suspects, who carried European passports, killed Mahmoud
Al Mabhouh, one of the founders of Hamas` military wing Ezz Al
Deen Al Qassam Brigades, on January 20.
"Mabhouh entered the UAE on January 19 at 3:15 pm from
an Arab country. His body was found in the afternoon of
January 20 in a Dubai hotel where he was staying," it said.
The police, however, refused to divulge further details.
Hamas has accused Israel of assassinating Mabhouh and
vowed revenge.
Meanwhile, a media report here quoted a police source as
saying "the crime was most probably carried out by a
(professional) criminal gang, which followed the victim around
before entering the UAE."
It said "although the crime was committed
professionally, they left behind sufficient evidence to trace
them and arrest them soon."
As per the report, the first results of a joint
investigation by Hamas and the UAE show he was killed by an
electrical appliance that was held to his head.
Dubai Police Chief Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim
said Al Mabhouh had travelled under a different name.
"If we had been told of his presence, we would have
provided him with the necessary protection," he told the Al
Arabiya satellite channel.
Tamim on Sunday met Palestinian Consul General in Dubai
Hussein Abdul Khaliq and discussed the ongoing investigation
over the murder of Mabhouh. The two officials discussed ways
of cooperation between Dubai police and international
authorities in connection with the murder.
Dahi assured the Palestinian official that the Dubai
police will leave no stone unturned in tracking down suspects
and said that they will not relent until the suspects are
brought to book.
"We have learnt with experience that suspects at the end
of the day get arrested no matter where they are," he said.
The funeral of 50-year-old Mabhouh, who lived in Syria
and was in-charge of arms purchases for Hamas, was held in
Damascus on Friday.
Over the years, a number of Hamas leaders have been
killed in operations Israel calls "targeted killings."
Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was killed in an
Israeli helicopter gunship attack in Gaza in 2004 and a month
later, another Hamas leader in Gaza, Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi,
was killed when two missiles hit his car.
In 1997, Israeli agents in a failed attempt tried to
kill Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in Amman by injecting him
with poison.
PTI
