Eleven people were behind the mysterious murder of Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh according to Dubai police, who have released CCTV footage of the suspects.
The group of suspected killers arrived in Saudi Arabia carrying European passports – British, Irish, French and German. They came on separate flights and were dressed as tourists, wearing fake beards, tennis clothes and carrying racquets. There was a woman among them.
Lieutenant General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim said on Monday it was possible that “leaders of certain countries issued orders to their intelligence and security agents to kill” Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, but he did not name any countries.
Tamim urged the countries linked to the alleged murderers to help in the investigation, adding that the photos, names, nationalities and details of their passports of the 11 were sent to Interpol and posted on the Internet.
Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, one of the founders of Hamas' military wing, was found strangled and with traces of torture in his luxury hotel room near Dubai's international airport on January 20.
Hamas has accused Israel's secret service Mossad of carrying out the murder.
But investigative journalist Wayne Madsen believes the U.S. could have also been involved in the assassination.
“What we do know is that someone with a British passport, forged passport, entered the United States on February 14th, and another – with an Irish forged passport entered on January 21st – the day after Mr. Mabhoub was assassinated in Dubai,” says Madsen. “We also know that these individuals – 27 at last count – suspects in the murder of this individual carried 13 US-issued credit cards. So, there is more than just the entrance – you know, in the United States we also have US credit cards, Master Cards issued here.”