Biyokulule Online

Dubai Police Chief Details Al-Mabhuh Murder Evidence, Derides Mosad Disguises
Al-Sharq al-Awsat Online
Thursday, March 11, 2010

A presenter points to video footage showing one of the 27 suspects involved in the recent killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a senior Hamas military commander, during a news conference in Dubai February 15, 2010.

Report on telephone interview with Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim, Dubai police chief, by correspondent Salman al-Dawsay; date not given: “Dubai Police Chief: 10,000 Cameras Enabled Us To Discover Accused 20 Hours After Operation; Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Reveals to Al Sharq Al-Awsat Details of Evidence of Al-Mabhuh`s Assassination and Said: `We Will Send Somebody to Mosad To Teach Them About Disguises”

Sixteen days after the official announcement about the assassination of the HAMAS leader Mahmud al-Mabhuh in Dubai, the emirate`s police provided details concerning the team that assassinated him in one of the hotels of the city, which the Dubai Police say belongs to the Israeli Mosad. What is surprising is not the size of the assassination team, which up to now stands at 27 accused, nor is it their European passports or the other details that the local police have provided to the media. The great surprise is how the police organs have been able to analyze hundreds of thousands of pictures and scenes filmed by the surveillance cameras that are spread across the city, and how all these leads have been assembled to provide such a volume of evidence.

In a telephone conversation with Al-Sharq al-Awsat, Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim, chief of the Dubai Police, revealed details on how the emirate`s police have been able to collect these precise and categorical forms of proof, as he put it. He pointed out that there are more than 10,000 cameras spread across the suburbs of Dubai, and added: “We have unofficial cars roaming the streets equipped with surveillance cameras. We were not shadowing anyone, and we did not know that there was somebody out there bent on carrying out this assassination operation, but when it happened we were able to have minute details and assembled all the leads of the operation.”

According to Lieutenant General Khalfan, the operation to find the details of the 27 people who are accused of assassinating Al-Mabhuh “included the analysis of hundreds of hours of videotapes, the questioning of about 30 taxi drivers to know the cars used by the accused, as well as a review of the records of about 15,000 Europeans who visit Dubai every day as part of the 40 million travelers who visit Dubai every year.”

Mahmud al-Mabhuh, a leading figure in the HAMAS movement, was killed in his room in the Al-Bustan Rotana Hotel on 19 January 2010. The Dubai Police say they are almost certain that the assassination operation was carried out by Israeli intelligence (Mosad), but the Israeli authorities deny this accusation.

Citizens and residents were worried following the assassination operation (27 individuals coming to Dubai, killing somebody and leaving quickly), all the more so because the city is known for being a safe haven for everybody. This led some to claim that the city police have failed do their job properly, at least this time round. However, despite this, confidence in the security organs returned to normal levels following the sensational details and the quality of the evidence that were revealed by the local authorities. It was perhaps the first intelligence operation of its kind to be revealed to the public in this way, with the evidence it has gathered.

But then how have the Dubai Police managed to gather these dispersed leads and assemble them into the evidence they have presented? Khalfan`s answer is: “A Bedouin looks at a she-camel in the desert and from its steps he knows to whom it belongs. It was on this basis that we were able to get the details of the operation only 24 hours after the operation was carried out.” He added that 20 members of the police “worked on the analysis of the tapes and evidence to arrive at the truth.”

We asked Khalfan: How many hours of videotapes do the Dubai Police have in their possession, showing the accused? He answered: “We have a total of 648 hours of videotapes showing all the 27 accused.”

According to Khalfan, the police are asking the hotels to have smart and advanced surveillance cameras installed “in order to prevent anyone filmed by the camera from staying in the same spot for a long period of time (without being noticed). If this happens, the cameras sound an alert to warn monitors. We will not stop following up advanced technology to secure our right not to allow such abuses to happen.”

There remains another important question: After the revelation that there are more than 10,000 cameras spread across the emirate, and in view of this clear revelation of everything in Dubai, how can residents and visitors secure their privacy? Lieutenant General Khalfan answers: “Violating privacy in Dubai is prohibited by Shari`ah and the law.” He continued: “We have nothing that can be said to be in violation of personal privacy. Even surveillance cameras and monitoring devices are used only in ultimate cases such as this assassination operation. In other cases, no one sees their recordings at all, except a very limited number of people who are entitled to examine the tapes that are recorded by the cameras round the clock. In fact, what we record can be seen with the naked eye and is available for everybody to see since it happens in public places.”

Intelligence experts are saying that the perpetrators of the Al-Mabhuh operation must have taken into account the fact that there were surveillance cameras that would take their pictures, at least on their arrival at the airport. This is confirmed by the fact that the accused disguised themselves in various ways, but perhaps the showing of the videotapes to the public has surprised everybody. In this respect, Lieutenant General Khalfan affirmed that the disguising of the accused “was expected, unquestionably so.”

However, the emirate official derided the way the “Mosad agents,” as Khalfan put it, disguised themselves. He added: “I believe that the Mosad is living outside the present time; it is even operating in a way that dates back 20 years. Also, the way the members of the assassination team disguised themselves is stupid and trivial. They are still disguising themselves by wearing wigs. Some of the accused disguised themselves by wearing tennis clothing when their bodies are not fit for practicing sport in the first place. It was clear they were engaged in a suspicious activity, all the more so because they would sit for a long time at the tennis court without playing. They also were no good at holding the tennis racquet at all.”

Khalfan continued, sarcastically: “If the Mosad wants to learn the art of disguise and changing appearances, we can send them a coach from the Dubai Police to teach them the correct way to ensure better disguises.” Lieutenant General Khalfan affirmed that when Al-Mabhuh traveled to Dubai on the 19^th of January, “he bought his ticket just one day before (on the 18^th ), and the assassination team arrived on the same day. This confirms that somebody leaked to that team the secret of Al-Mabhuh`s visit to Dubai. Obviously, this secret is known only to those closest to Al-Mabhuh in his entourage.”

Lieutenant General Khalfan continued deriding the way the Israeli Mosad team operated, saying: “Those close to them are bragging that the assassination team was able to close Al-Mabhuh`s room door from the inside. This method is not complicated and many people can do it. We have brought a Dubai Police officer and he carried out the same operation: closing the door from inside. Does this merit being used by some to brag about Mosad`s activity?”

Dubai was able to quickly reveal the names and photographs of those who, it said, are implicated in the assassination of Al-Mabhuh. Also, the Dubai Police continue to reveal other details now and again. It seems that in giving these details they rely on the surveillance cameras system that covers all Dubai sites, from the airport, through the main streets, to the shopping malls, hotels, housing apartments and even car parks. This has prompted some to consider the videotape broadcast by the Dubai Police to be part of a reality television show that was seen worldwide by viewers who wanted to watch a brief true story about an intelligence organ`s assassination of one person with the use of a 27-strong team.

However, in his conversation with Al Sharq al-Awsat, Lieutenant General Dahi drew attention to another point. He believes that if the HAMAS leading figure Mahmud al-Mabhuh had a companion with him, “this team would not have not been able to assassinate him as easily as they did. They would have found out that killing him was difficult. Certainly, a leading figure coming without a companion has facilitated the assassination operation in question.”

Concerning the Palestinians who are implicated in the assassination operation, Khalfan said that one of them denied the data shown to him by the investigators about his links to the other accused, “but he quickly confessed after we showed him the videotape that proves that he met with them in Dubai.”

According to Lieutenant General Khalfan, Al-Mabhuh was supposed to stay in Dubai for just one night and then to travel to China and Sudan, “but the killers took him by surprise in the hotel before his trip and departure from the Emirates as previously planned.” Dahi Khalfan Tamim stressed that the passports used by the accused to enter (the country) are not forged as is currently being reported. The proof is that the same accused left Dubai for various states after the operation, including Europe, the United States, and Hong Kong. They entered these airports without anyone being able to discover that their passports were forged. If Dubai was unable to discover that these passports were forged, how could they be used for traveling from one state to the other without anyone discovering the truth about them?”

(Description of Source: London Al-Sharq al-Awsat Online in Arabic -- Website of influential London-based pan-Arab Saudi daily; editorial line reflects Saudi official stance. URL: http://www.asharqalawsat.com/)

A presenter points to video footage showing two of the 27 suspects involved in the recent killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a senior Hamas military commander, during a news conference in Dubai February 15, 2010.