6 new suspects surface in Dubai terror case

The probe into the terror of a senior Hamas member Mahmoud al-Mabhouh enters a new phase as Dubai officials confirm that at least six other assassins remain unaccounted for.

The revelation comes shortly after Dubai police issued international arrest warrants for 11 suspects, including a woman, who were travelling on fake European passports and had arrived in Dubai one day before the killing of the Palestinian leader.

The new suspects include a second woman ‘dressed as a tourist’ and accompanied by a “large man,” The Times reported on Wednesday.

The two were apparently part of the final surveillance team in the lobby of al-Mabhouh’s Dubai hotel as the murder took place on the evening of January 19.

Within minutes of committing the murder, another unknown man is seen leaving the luxury al-Bustan Rotana hotel with a woman carrying a forged Irish passport in the name of Gail Folliard.

The 11-member terrorist team included six British and three Irish passport holders with two others carrying French and German documents. The identities of the 11 named suspects were, however, discredited when six British citizens living in Israel claimed their identities had been stolen.

It is speculated that their passport details could have been stolen at a hotel or an immigration desk, while visiting Israel.

The Israeli secret service, Mossad, has been widely blamed for the murder which, in many ways, resembles other Israeli terror operations against Palestinian leaders abroad. Dubai’s chief of police has also made clear that he could not rule out Israeli involvement.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Wednesday said that the evidence was circumstantial but he did not deny Mossad’s involvement. He claimed, “Israel’s security activity is conducted according to very clear, cautious and responsible rules of the game.”

The controversial identity thefts have prompted Britain to summon the Israeli ambassador in London to the Foreign Office on Thursday as speculations of Israeli involvement in the plot grew.

“Given the links to Israel of a number the British nationals affected, there will be a meeting between the FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) permanent undersecretary and the Israeli ambassador (on Thursday),” the British government spokesman said Wednesday.

“The defrauding of British passports is a very serious issue. The government will continue to take all the action that is necessary to protect British nationals from identity fraud,” he added.

Ireland’s Foreign Minister Micheal Martin also voiced concern over the use of fake Irish passports, saying that new data from Dubai officials “indicates that genuine Irish passport numbers were used.”

“The Minister for Foreign Affairs regards any activity which would jeopardize the integrity of the Irish passport as extremely serious,” Martin added.

Observers say that despite the emerging and convincing evidence of Mossad’s involvement in the terror operation, the US and EU countries, who repeatedly boast and justify their “war on terror” efforts, have treated this case as a non-event, raising further suspicions about their true objectives behind their so-called war on terror campaign.