Passports Faked in Dubai Killing
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The U.K. and several other European countries said that passports used by 11 suspects wanted in connection with the killing of a senior Hamas leader in Dubai had been faked.
Police in Dubai appealed for an international manhunt on Tuesday after releasing names, photographs and passport information identifying six Britons, three Irish citizens, a German and a Frenchman as suspects in the killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a senior leader in the Palestinian militant group.
Dubai's attorney general, Essam al-Hemaydan, said international arrest warrants have been issued for those accused of links to the slaying. Officials said they would seek the help of Interpol.
"We are aware that the holders of six British passports have been named in this case," a spokesman for the U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office said. "We believe the passports used were fraudulent and have begun our own investigation," he said, adding that Britain was offering its assistance to Dubai's investigation.
The U.K. Foreign Office spokesman declined to comment on speculation that the assassination was carried out by Israeli security service Mossad.
Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs said it couldn't find the three alleged Irish suspects in passport records and that the numbers listed were counterfeit because they had the wrong number of digits and contained no letters.
"Ireland has issued no passports in those names,'' the department said in a statement to the AP.
Germany's Interior Ministry said the passport details cited by Dubai don't appear genuine: The five-digit passport number given for the German suspect is too short and lacks the letters that now appear on German passports.
The consul general of France in Dubai, Nada Yafi, declined to comment on the case.
Palestinian militant group Hamas has repeatedly accused Israel of masterminding the killing. Mr. Mabhouh's body was found Jan. 20 in a room at the Al-Bustan Rotana Hotel a hotel near Dubai's international airport.
Dubai police haven't said who they think ultimately is behind the killing. Shortly after the killing, Dubai's police chief, Lt. Gen. Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, said the tactics used in the killing resembled those used by the Israeli intelligence service. But on Monday, he appeared to back off that suggestion, saying that it wasn't clear what, if any, organization was behind the death. He didn't rule out Israeli involvement.