Published: March 1, 2010
Courtesy Of The New York Times
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — At least two suspects in the killing of a Hamas official in a hotel here in January traveled to the United States afterward, according to a person familiar with the investigation.
That disclosure broadened the scope of an international investigation that has fostered diplomatic tensions and cast a harsh light on the methods of Israel’s intelligence service, the Mossad, which police officials here accuse of ordering the killing.
One suspect traveling on a British passport arrived in the United States on Feb. 14; the other used an Irish passport and arrived on Jan. 21, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case. He did not say where the men entered the country, and added that there was no known record of their leaving.
Many of the 26 suspects identified in the case used stolen identities — most of them taken from people with dual citizenship living in Israel — and that appeared to be true of the two men who traveled to the United States, who used the names Roy Allan Cannon and Evan Dennings. On Friday, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz identified the real Mr. Cannon as “a 62-year-old, ultra-Orthodox father of six” who moved to Israel in 1983. Irish officials said last week that they believed that Mr. Dennings was also a victim of identity theft.
As foreign citizens, the two suspects would have been photographed and fingerprinted on arrival in the United States, and could therefore presumably be tracked. But in light of the identity theft practiced in the case, it seems possible that the men could have left the United States under false travel documents.
Although Interpol is assisting in the investigation and has put out alert notices about the suspects, United States officials have been silent about it. On Monday, the State Department again refused to comment on the case.
Dubai police officials have already identified two American financial companies that they say issued credit cards to 14 suspects: MetaBank, based in Storm Lake, Iowa; and Payoneer, based in New York, with an Israeli office in Petah Tikva, near Tel Aviv.
The 26 suspects traveled on British, Irish, Australian, French and German passports, and the five countries have summoned Israeli ambassadors to ask how the documents were misused. Australia’s prime minister, Kevin Rudd, was quoted in Australian newspapers as saying that his nation was “not satisfied” with the Israeli explanation so far. At least 16 suspects appear to have used the names of people with dual citizenship living in Israel.
On Monday, the Iranian foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, expressed suspicion about the use of European passports during a speech to a United Nations gathering in Geneva, saying Western “security services, intelligence people, or a part of their government may have been involved” in the killing.
The Dubai police chief, Dahi Khalfan al-Tamim, said last week that he was “99 percent, if not 100 percent” sure that the Mossad was behind the killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, the Hamas official, on Jan. 19. Israeli officials have refused to comment on the matter, in keeping with their longstanding practice with accusations against the Mossad.
Mr. Mabhouh had a role in the 1989 abduction and murder of two Israeli soldiers, and in smuggling arms into Gaza, according to Israel and Hamas.
The Dubai police have released an array of evidence in the case, including high-quality surveillance video. On Sunday police officials said forensic tests showed that the killers had injected Mr. Mabhouh with a muscle relaxant to immobilize him before suffocating him in his hotel room.
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