Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Dubai assassins used names of UK olim

Three olim expressed astonishment on Tuesday after discovering their names on a list of suspected hit squad members who killed Hamas operative Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a Dubai hotel room last month.

Of the 11 people named by Dubai police as being members of the alleged assassination team, six have the same names as British-Israeli citizens living in Israel, and one is a German-Israeli woman, Channel 10 said.

Analysts have argued that intelligence agents traveling with false documents are more likely to get past border controls if they use the names of “real” people.

Paul Keeley, a British oleh who lives at Kibbutz Nahsholim, told Channel 2 that he had been inundated with calls from British media outlets since the list of names was publicized.

“I’m in shock and I don’t even understand what I’m seeing,” he said. Referring to the photograph of alleged hit-squad member “Paul Keeley” disseminated by Dubai police along with pictures of other alleged assassins, the Nahsholim resident added, “It doesn’t even look like me.”

Keeley moved to Israel 15 years ago, and said his passport had not been lost or stolen.

“I am just a father, a husband, and a kibbutz resident,” he said.

Another British oleh whose name appears on the list, Steven Daniel Hodes, said, “I am in complete shock and I don’t understand what is going on. I don’t know how they got to me. That’s not my picture, of course. I haven’t left the country in two years, and I certainly have not been in Dubai. I don’t know who is behind this. I’m scared.”

Michael Lawrence Barney, a third oleh who found his name on the list, told Channel 10 on Tuesday, “This is a mistake or a case of identity theft, but it isn’t me. That’s for sure.”

Hamas has blamed Israel’s Mossad for the assassination and vowed revenge. Dubai police have said they do not rule out Mossad involvement, but have yet to formally accuse the organization of the killing.

Source : http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=168902

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