Dubai: No entry for Israelis
Israelis will not be allowed into United Arab Emirates even if they carry foreign passports, Dubai police chief says; move comes in wake of Hamas man's assassination, attributed to Mossad
Dubai's police chief says travelers suspected of being Israeli will not be allowed into the United Arab Emirates even if they arrive with alternative passports.
Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim says the move comes after the killing of a senior Hamas man in Dubai, blamed by the Emirates authorities on Israel's Mossad spy agency.
Tamim said a team of at least 26 members used European and Australian passports to enter the country in January and kill Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in his hotel room, before fleeing the country.
The Emirates will now "deny entry to anyone suspected of having Israeli citizenship," Tamim said at a security conference in Abu Dhabi Monday.
It was unclear if the measure would also apply to Israeli athletes competing in international sports events being held there.
On Sunday, Dubai police said that its investigation revealed that al-Mabhouh was drugged and then suffocated to death.
"The killers used the drug succinylcholine to sedateal-Mabhouh before they suffocated him," Major General Khamis Mattar al-Mazeina, deputy commander of Dubai police, was quoted as saying.
AFP and Roee Nahmias contributed to the report
