Abu Dhabi, January 30: The police in Dubai say they have identified the suspects behind the assassination of a senior Hamas military commander Mahmud Abdel Rauf al-Mabhuh.
According to preliminary investigations conducted by police on Friday, Mabhuh was killed by “a professional criminal gang” that followed him in Dubai.
Police further added that the suspects, several “European passport holders”, are thought to have fled the United Arab Emirates (UAE). No names have been specified by the UAE police yet.
On Friday, the Hamas movement held Israel responsible for the assassination of Mabhuh in Dubai earlier this month.
“We hold Israel responsible for the assassination of our brother and leader,” Hamas said in a statement.
Hamas would “retaliate for this Zionist crime at the appropriate moment,” the statement added.
The head of Hamas political bureau, Khaled Meshaal, said: “I say to you Zionists, do not rejoice. You killed him, but his sons will fight you.”
“God already took our leaders and loved ones, but resistance goes on. Palestine is a blessed land. It will not remain patient,” he went on to say.
According to one of his brothers, Mabhuh was killed by electric shock after an electrical appliance was held to his head.
“The first results of a joint investigation by Hamas and the (United Arab) Emirates show he was killed by an electrical appliance that was held to his head,” Fayed al-Mabhuh said.
“Material was sent to a Paris laboratory which confirmed he was killed by electric shock,” he added.
The 50-year-old Mabhuh was one of the founders of Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing Hamas.
——-Agencies