Duba:i The Chief of Dubai Police on Thursday called for setting up an international security team to deal with the assassination of Hamas official Mahmoud Al Mabhouh last month because it has become "an international case".
Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim, speaking to Dubai TV last night, said he would request an arrest warrant against the head of the Israeli spy agency Mossad, Meir Dagan, if it were proven beyond doubt that the agency was behind the murder, which is "almost a certain thing".
He said the security team should be formed from the UAE, Britain, Ireland, France and Germany.
"The suspects are international criminals wanted by the UAE because they committed a crime on its land and [should be] wanted by those countries because they used passports issued by those countries in the crime."
Interpol list
Interpol Thursday posted the pictures and details of the eleven suspects wanted by Dubai Police.
Speaking to Gulf News earlier, Dahi promised to reveal "more surprises" soon in the ongoing investigation, saying the final forensic report would reveal beyond all doubts the method used by Al Mabhouh's assassins.
Dahi's statement came as the UK and Ireland summoned Israeli envoys in their capitals to protest the apparent use of identities of their nationals in the crime.
France also said it was seeking "explanations from Israel's embassy…over the circumstances of the use of a fake French passport in the assassination of a Hamas member in Dubai."
The French Foreign Ministry said it was cooperating with authorities in Dubai in the investigation, and the evidence obtained so far led it to conclude that the passport was forged.
The investigation was widened yesterday to include the United States. According to the Wall Street Journal, investigators are looking into "five credit card accounts at a US-based financial institution that officials say were used by five of the suspects."
Dubai Police released the names of eleven suspects, holding European passports, and said two Palestinians are being held in connection with the crime. An Associated Press report yesterday quoted an unnamed UAE official as saying the number of suspects "has grown to at least 18".
Dahi said Dubai Police were "holding more names, other than those announced as we wait to confirm some information" about their roles in the case.
He also pointed to the involvement of "Arabs", in reference to the two Palestinians.
Media reports yesterday said a third Palestinian, a senior Hamas official close to Al Mabhouh, was being held in Syria in connection with the murder. The two in Dubai Police custody have been identified by a Palestinian National Authority security official in the occupied West Bank as Anwar Shuhaiber and Ahmad Hassanain, members of PNA security forces ousted from Gaza.
Dahi said Al Mabhouh was stopping over in Dubai on his way to China.
