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Tamim. Wants more details
Photo: AFP
Suspect arrested?
Photo: Reuters

Dubai: Hit team suspect arrested in Canada

Suspect was believed to be one of the men caught on hotel's security cameras holding tennis racket, while entering elevator on this way to Mabhouh's room, Dubai police chief tells al-Jazeera

Canadian police have arrested a suspect in the assassination of a Hamas commander in Dubai but offered Dubai police no information on the matter, the Gulf emirate's police chief said on Tuesday.

 

Assassins killed Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in his Dubai hotel room in January, a hit widely blamed on Israeli intelligence agents. The large-scale operation involved a ring of suspects who wore disguises and held passports from countries including Britain, France, Germany, and Australia.

 

Dubai police chief Dahi Khalfan Tamim said he was frustrated by the lack of any details or information from Canadian authorities regarding the arrest.

 

"We want clarity on this issue. We want the Canadian authorities to tell us exactly what the details are – the thing that is discomfiting is the lack of transparency on this," he told Reuters.

 

He told the al-Jazeera network that the suspect was believed to be one of the men caught on the security cameras of the Al-Bustan Rotana Hotel wearing white clothes and holding a tennis racket, while entering the elevator on this way to Mabhouh's room.

 

Tamim said he had been informed that Canada would send a representative to Dubai to provide further information, but did not know when a debriefing would take place.

 

Canadian officials have not responded to requests for comment from Reuters.

 

The Canadian arrest would be the second in the case. A suspected Israeli agent was detained in Poland in August and handed over to Germany, which freed him on bail. The man was suspected of fraudulently obtaining a German passport believed to have been used by a member of the hit squad.

 

Dubai police accused Israel in February of being behind the hit, a claim echoed by some other governments and which was followed by the expulsion of some Israeli diplomats in several countries. Israel, citing an "ambiguity" policy in intelligence activities, has refused to confirm or deny the allegations.

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 10.19.10, 14:37
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