28 Feb 2010

UK police investigate passports of Dubai killers

1:56 pm on 28 February 2010

British police are in Israel to investigate the use of fake passports by suspects in the killing of a Hamas commander in Dubai.

They will interview six British-Israeli nationals whose identities were stolen by the suspects.

Police say they are being treated as potential witnesses rather than suspects, and the meetings were taking place with the full knowledge of the Israeli authorities.

Dubai has accused Mossad, of killing Mahmoud al-Mabouh in a Dubai hotel on 20 January.

He was reportedly in Dubai to buy weapons for Hamas.

A post-mortem examination report said he had been electrocuted and then suffocated. Twenty six suspects have been named.

Israel has declined to confirm or deny that it was responsible.

Opposition leader Tzipi Livni on Tuesday applauded the killing. "The fact that a terrorist was killed and it doesn't matter if it was in Dubai or Gaza, is good news to those fighting terrorism," she said.