Dubai police 99 percent sure Mossad behind killing: report

DUBAI, Feb 18, 2010 (AFP) - Dubai police chief Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan said he was 99 percent sure Israel's Mossad intelligence service was behind the murder of Hamas commander Mahmud al-Mabhuh, The National newspaper reported on Thursday.

An image grab taken on February 16, 2010 from hotel surveillance camera footage, released by Dubai police, allegedly shows two murder suspects dressed as tourists in tennis outfits, following Hamas militant Mahmud al-Mabhuh (in elevator), before he was found dead in his hotel room in Dubai on January 20, 2010 (AFP photo)
An image grab taken on February 16, 2010 from hotel surveillance camera footage, released by Dubai police, allegedly shows two murder suspects dressed as tourists in tennis outfits, following Hamas militant Mahmud al-Mabhuh (in elevator), before he was found dead in his hotel room in Dubai on January 20, 2010 (AFP photo)

"Our investigations reveal that Mossad is involved in the murder of Mabhuh. It is 99 percent, if not 100 percent that Mossad is standing behind the murder," the Abu Dhabi-based English-language daily quoted Khalfan as saying.

Mabhuh, one of the founders of Hamas's military wing, was found dead in his Dubai hotel room on January 20.

Dubai's police chief this week released the photos and names of 11 European passport holders -- six from Britain, three from Ireland, one from Germany and one from France -- that he suspects of being members of the hit squad.

All the countries except Germany have since said their passports had been faked.

Speculation about who was behind Mabhuh's death has centred on the Mossad, which has used agents with fake foreign passports in similar operations in the past.

Other news