Report: 2 Mabhouh assassins traveled to US
Wall Street Journal reports one suspect in slaying of Hamas commander in Dubai entered US using Irish passport day after hit, while another suspect followed some three weeks later using British passport. Source says no records of two leaving country. Meanwhile, Dubai police chief says 27th suspect identified
At least two of the 26 people suspected of involvement in the assassination of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai in January traveled to the United States shortly after his death, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing a source who is "familiar with the situation".
The US State Department and Interpol both declined to comment on the report.
According to the report, an investigation revealed that one of the suspects entered the US on February 14 using a British passport. Another suspect, using an Irish passport, entered the country on January 21 – one day after Mabhouh was found dead in his Dubai hotel room.
The source said there are no records of either of the suspects leaving the US, but that investigators could not be sure that they were still in the country. The source added that the two could have left the US using different travel documents.
Meanwhile, Duba police chief Dhahi Khalfan Tamim said all suspects in the assassination returned to Israel after their mission. "I am sure that all suspects are in Israel," he told reporters on Monday.
"If they remain in Israel, they will not be arrested but if they leave (the country) they will eventually be arrested," he said.
In a statement issued Monday, Tamim also revealed a new suspect, the 27th, which was identified by the Dubai authorities. The identity of the suspect was not revealed, but Tamim said that he was also carrying a European passport.
Last week the British Times reported that the FBI expressed willingness to investigate the affair as well, due to suspicions that members of the hit squad used American credit cards.According to the Times, several agents from the British Serious Organized Crime Agency, which is spearheading the investigation, arrived in Dubai and joined a the investigation team in the emirate, which is a popular location for money laundering in British organized crime.
Dubai police last week announced that 14 members of the assassination team used credit cards issued by the US bank META. The investigation carried out by local police revealed that the 26 assassins traveled to Dubai from Hong Kong and six European cities: Zurich, Rome, Paris, Frankfurt, Milan, and Dusseldorf.
On their way out of Dubai, the 26 split up into eight groups and traveled to different cities around the world, some of them using direct flights and others using connecting flights with stops in other cities.
According to the investigation, the assassins passed through Hong Kong, Zurich, Doha, Bangkok, Rome, Frankfurt, Johannesburg, Amsterdam, Milan and Paris.
Two of the suspects, Nicole Sandra McCabe, Adam Marcus Korman took a ship from Dubai to Iran. The Dubai police detailed the destination of each of the suspects, and their way through the cities to their final location. However, the probe's findings made no mention of the United States.
