Al Mabhouh killers used original passports, Dahi says

Dubai: The passports used by the assassins of senior Hamas commander Mahmoud Al Mabhouh were real and not forged, the Dubai Police chief said yesterday.

Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim said immigration officials at Dubai airport had scanned the passports when the assassins entered the country and found nothing suspicious. "The passports were real. They were not forged because had they been fakes, the scanners would have caught it," he told reporters last night. He was speaking on the sidelines of a ceremony to set up an office for the UAE Society of Talented Individuals.

Al Mabhouh was drugged and then suffocated in a hotel in Dubai on January 19. Lt Gen Dahi has said Mossad is behind the assassination. The police chief said the people who allege that their identities were stolen and used by the assassins should sue. He did not elaborate who should be sued. He had earlier told Gulf News that these people are not necessarily ‘victims' and that they could also be collaborators.

"This assassination has given us a window into Mossad's world and the way they operate. We have learned more about their techniques, the disguises they use and their methods of spying," Lt Gen Dahi said.

Close circuit cameras programmed to detect suspicious movements, especially if a person is stationed in one place constantly, will be installed to enhance security, but he did not say when they will be put in place.