Dubai Hamas killing suspects' passports 'fraudulent'

[Joanne98]

Passports belonging to the alleged killers of a top Hamas official in Dubai are fraudulent, the British and Irish governments have said.

Ireland said the names and passport numbers of three suspects did not match anything issued by its officials.

Britain said it believed the six British passports were also fraudulent.

Arrest warrants were issued for the suspects named by police in Dubai, where Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was murdered in a hotel room on 20 January.

Two more men, one using a French passport and one using a German passport, are also suspected of playing parts in the assassination.

The French foreign ministry said it was "not able to confirm the nationality of this person", according to AFP news agency.


German officials said the passport number was either incomplete or wrong, Associated Press reported.

Reports have suggested that Mr Mabhouh was in Dubai to buy weapons for Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.

I don't know how this happened or who chose my name or why, but hopefully we'll find out soon

Hamas have accused Israeli agents of killing him.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8518481.stm

Photos at link

[tishaLA]

1. I just watched the surveillance video of this

it's 20 minutes long, totally silent, and pieces together how this went down (along with some speculation) and...damn. It was fascinating. gawker described it correctly: "It's like Munich, but real."

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/16/assassins-of-hamas-official-caught-on-tape-dubai-says/

[fleabert]

2. we are always aware that there is probably video being taken at all times here...

and there are rarely signs telling you you are being watched. It's just done. even on the highways.

helps for crimes such as these, but at what price?

[ProgressiveProfessor]

3. Munich was real...as was this

If it was Mossad and if everyone pictured was really involved is still TBD. Be interesting to see how it works out.

[tishaLA]

4. they're talking about the film. I think we all realize it's a filmic depiction

of historical events.

[JDPriestly]

5. A lot of speculation.

Lot's of questions. How was the man killed? That is unclear. Apparently the original medical report said he died of a rise in blood pressure. How did the alleged assassins leave the room if the door was locked from the inside as the full video states?

Odd how the authorities were able to pick these faces out of the many, many videos of many, many different places involved in the alleged plot. You have to suspend your credibility a lot to follow the events you see on the video to the conclusions drawn in the video. It's very possible that the interpretation the video gives to the facts is true, but there could be other explanations.

The evidence that ties the plot together is phone calls registered to a number in Vienna.

I don't know what is more fascinating, more incredible -- the alleged plot by the alleged assassins or the allegations drawn from the evidence -- which consists of people carrying strange packages walking around airports, hotel lobbies, and hotel hallways, riding elevators, going in and out of restrooms in alleged disguises.

I just have to say that if the energy allegedly put into carrying out plots and reconstructing plots were put into negotiating peace and trying to make the world better for everyone, we would all be a lot better off.

All I can say is that, if there is any truth at all in this theory (and there probably is), then what a sad waste of human organizational talent on all sides. The technology involved in getting and sorting through the videos is incredible. Wouldn't it be great if that kind of technology could be used to help people instead of hurt them?