Report: UK man, 62, suspected in Mabhouh killing
Independent newspaper says suspect arrived in Dubai under his own name, carrying genuine British passport
Only several days after the appointment of the new British government, the kingdom may be on the verge of a diplomatic crisis in the Middle East. Dubai has named a British citizen as another suspect in the killing of senior Hamas figure Mahmoud al-Mabhouh about four months ago, The Independent newspaper reported Sunday.
According to a source in the United Arab Emirates, the suspect arrived in Dubai under his own name and carrying a genuine British passport.
The British authorities pointed a finger at the Israeli Mossad agency after Dubai uncovered a special cell of "assassins" who entered the country with fake passports, some of them British.
Sunday's report brings the number of suspects in the affair to 33.
According to details obtained by The Independent, the new suspect was born in 1948. It is believed that his father was a Jew who migrated to the United Kingdom just after World War II. Dubai police have informed Interpol of the name and passport number of the suspect, who is believed to be hiding in Western Europe.
Mabhouh arriving at Dubai hotel (Archive photo: Reuters)
Additional suspects in the affair were uncovered about a week ago. The Wall Street Journal reported that UAE security forces had identified five more suspects in the killi8ng, and a knowledgeable source told the newspaper that the suspects were carrying British, Australian and French passports. These three countries already asked Israel for clarifications when the affair broke out.
An unusual diplomatic crisis was recorded between Israel and Britain following the affair. Israeli Ambassador to the UK Ron Prosor was invited to a clarification meeting following suspicions that Israel used fake British passports. Former Foreign Secretary David Miliband declared that Britain had expelled a senior Israeli diplomat, who was later revealed to be the Mossad representative in London.
