Dubai investigators are nearly "100 percent" sure that Israel's Mossad intelligence agency was behind the hit squad slaying of a senior Hamas commander last month, the police chief said as the number of suspects climbed Thursday to 18.
The remarks by Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim appeared on a local newspaper Web Site.
The investigation widened to the United States with Emirates authorities saying the alleged killers used fraudulent passports to open credit cards accounts through U.S. banks, an official said, according to the AP.
"Our investigations reveal that Mossad is involved in the murder of (Mahmoud) al-Mabhouh. It is 99 percent, if not 100 percent, that Mossad is standing behind the murder," Tamim was quoted as saying by The National newspaper.
A UAE official, who has close knowledge of the investigation, said at least 18 people — including two women — are now suspects in what Dubai police describe as a highly coordinated operation to follow and then kill al-Mabhouh. The list includes 10 men and one woman identified by Dubai police Monday as members of an assassination team that traveled to Dubai on apparently fraudulent passports.
Also linked to the slaying are two Palestinians in Dubai custody and five others, including one woman who was caught on video surveillance at the luxury hotel where al-Mabhouh's body was found Jan. 20, said the official.
But the official said that some of the suspects used the false passports to open credit card accounts at U.S. banks.
