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New UK passport suspects in Dubai murder plot

Passport photos showing 11 suspects wanted over the murder of Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.
Passport photos showing 11 suspects wanted over the murder of Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Police say eight people entered Dubai on UK passports to carry out killing
  • A total of 18 people took part in assassination, police say
  • Dubai's police chief says he is "99-percent" certain Israel involved in killing
RELATED TOPICS
  • Hamas
  • Dubai
  • Israel

Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) -- Two more suspects in the killing of a Hamas leader in Dubai, both carrying British passports, have been identified, police said Tuesday.

This brings to eight the number of people who entered Dubai with British passports to allegedly take part in the killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a founding member of the military wing of the Palestinian Islamist movement.

The development is likely to deepen concerns over how the killers acquired the passports a day after the European Union condemned what it said were brazen cases of identity theft.

Elvis passport exposes security flaw

Altogether, 18 people -- 16 men and two women -- were part of the Dubai hit-squad, police said.

Fifteen of them had European passports -- eight from Britain, five from Ireland, one from France and one from Germany.

Two more were Palestinians and are being held by police in Dubai after being arrested in Jordan. The country of origin of the 18th passport has not been released.

The passports used are not fake or forged, but are authentic passports meant for other people, officials have said.

Dubai's police chief has said he is "99-percent" certain that the Mossad, the secretive Israeli foreign intelligence unit, is behind al-Mabhouh's killing.

European officials have been pressing Israel for answers.

Israel has a policy of neither confirming nor denying involvement in security matters, and government officials declined to comment on the "assassination" statement.

Al-Mabhouh was behind the kidnapping and killing of two Israeli soldiers in 1989, according to Hamas.

 
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