Dubai: Mahmoud Al Mabhouh, a senior Hamas military commander, who was allegedly assassinated in a hotel in Dubai earlier this month, faced previous assassination attempts before entering the country recently.
A Dubai security official had earlier confirmed to Gulf News of the assassination but refused to provide details of the incident. Sources revealed that the assassination took place in a hotel in Deira.
According to the Israeli news website, Ynet, Al Mabhouh’s brother, Fayed was quoted saying, "The assassination attempt was one of many. My brother escaped an attempted hit in Gaza, and six months ago he was poisoned and was unconscious for 36 hours, but he didn't like the media and no one in the organisation spoke of it.
"He also survived when Ezz Al Deen’s Shaikh Khalil was assassinated in Damascus in 2004 after security cameras located a device attached to his car."
Another Dubai security source said that an employee at the hotel found Al Mabhouh’s body in his hotel room. The security official said that Al Mabhouh entered the country with a different name.
Asked whether the Mossad as claimed by Hamas officials, national intelligence agency of Israel, is behind the assassination, the official did not confirm but said, “If the Mossad was behind the assassination then they have entered the country using passports from respectful countries.”
Al Mabhouh, who was born in the Gaza Strip but who had been living in Syria since 1989, was allegedly assassinated a day after he arrived in Dubai.
Israeli officials have so far offered no comment on the incident.
