Al-Mabhouh: Feared to be filmed
Photo: AFP
'Hamas filmed assassinated leader before his death'
'Close friend' of Al-Mabhouh: Organization urged him to relate his part in IDF soldier kidnap on film. He protested it would compromise his security, angry his face was seen in footage
Before his assassination in Dubai, Hamas leader Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh was filmed by the organization, Palestinian sources reported Saturday evening.
According to the reports, based on testimony from a close friend of the assassinated leader, the senior Hamas figure feared for his life in recent weeks. Apparently, Al-Mabhouh told his friend just before leaving Syria to Dubai, that he suspected there were strange activities going on around him, even in his office in Damascus.
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The same source said that recently Al-Mabhouh had been very annoyed by pressure from Hamas leaders who urged him to be filmed relating his part in the kidnap of the two IDF soldiers, Aviv Sasportas and Ilan Saadon.
Al-Mabhouh refused to be filmed, claiming that he was wanted by Israel for this affair, and that if the film was released, it would goad the Israeli security services to act. He feared that it would cause increased efforts on Israel's part to locate him and assassinate him.
However, according to the same unnamed friend, the Hamas leadership insisted that the film was vital for the organization. Leaders even promised that his face would be blurred and that the film would remain in the movement's military archives.
Al-Mabhouh was irritable and tense in the last weeks, because he discovered that the film crew had failed to follow security protocols and that his face was clearly visible in the footage. They also failed to hide signs that would reveal his whereabouts.
Nonetheless, he was sure that the film would undergo extensive editing. The same friend said that a senior Hamas figure admitted that he was not satisfied with the film, partly because the questions that were asked had an "intelligence" character, "in the full meaning of the word."
