British passport holders wanted over killing
Updated on 16 February 2010
The British and Irish governments insist members of a suspected hit squad accused of killing a top Hamas commander in Dubai were using fake passports. Alex Thomson reports.
Police in Dubai have named eleven suspects - all carrying European documents - who were allegedly part of a group which assassinated Hamas military commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.
That prompted a flurry of activity in London and Dublin as officials rushed to confirm the passports were fradulent. But the Palestinian militant group, Hamas, is blaming Israel's secret service for the attack.
Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was found dead in a luxury Dubai hotel room last month amid conflicting reports over how he was killed.
Dubai police said the killers were disguised in wigs, hats, sunglasses and tennis outfits and used an electronic device to break into Mabhou's hotel room and lie in wait for him.
They released CCTV footage showing some of the suspects going in and out of the al Bustan Rotana hotel, where the victim was staying.
The chief of Dubai police, General Dahi Tamim, said that along with the six British passport holders, three others had Irish documents and another two had French and German papers.
And he named the British passport holders as James Leonard Clarke, Stephen Daniel Hodes, Paul John Keeley, Michael Lawrence Barney, Jonathan Lewis Graham, and Melvyn Adam Milliner.
Five of the 11 European passport holders named by Dubai police.
General Tamim described the operation as "highly professional" and, although he did not directly accuse Israel of involvement, he said he was not ruling out Mossad.
Israel itself has refused to make any comment but it said last month that Mabhouh had been involved in the abduction and murder of two Israeli soldiers during a Palestinian uprising in 1989.
Dubai - which has been the scene of three other high profile assassinations in the last two years - is keen to show it is not a place for the settling of scores, describing itself as "a country of justice and rule of law".
The Foreign Office could not say whether any British nationals had reported stolen passports and said last night that it was seeking "further information".
The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs told Channel 4 News: "Despite daily contact with the authorities in the Emirates, we have received no confirmation of the information that the Dubai police chief has reportedly provided to the press since this story first broke.
"Our embassy in Abu Dhabi continues to seek details from the authorities in the Emirates so that the exact facts of the case can be ascertained. No evidence has been provided to us that any Irish nationals were involved."
All the documents have now been handed to Interpol and it is thought they have been asked to issue international arrest warrants for the alleged gang.
