Two suspects in the killing of Hamas militant, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh are shown in this CCTV handout from Dubai police. Israel’s Foreign Minister said the use of the identities of foreign-born Israelis by a hit squad suspected of killing Hamas militant, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, in Dubai did not prove the Mossad spy agency assassinated him. Men with the same names as seven of the 11 suspects whose European passport photos were distributed by Dubai live in Israel, and those reached by reporters insisted their identities had been stolen and noted the pictures were not a match.

DUBAI: Police widened their search in the hunt for the killers of a top Hamas militant in a luxury hotel, saying 15 new Western passport holders are now suspects, with the total number sought now 26.

A police statement said the 15, including the holders of six British and three French passports, are being sought after since Mahmud al-Mabhuh was found dead on January 20 at a luxury Dubai hotel.

All 26 suspects used Western passports, the statement said, adding that five women were among the 15 new names who also include three Irish and three Australian passport holders.

“The new list of suspects includes people who offered prior logistical support and preparations to facilitate the crime, and others who played a central role,” the statement said.

Dubai police said that they were not ruling out that other people were involved in the murder, as they were “still conducting a wide search and reviewing other links to the case.”

Fourteen of the suspects used credit cards, issued by META Bank in the United States, to book hotel rooms and pay for air travel, police said.

The new suspects had traveled to Dubai from six different European cities and Hong Kong.

Police earlier released the names and photos of 11 suspects who had entered the UAE on European passports – six from Britain, three from Ireland, one from Germany and one from France.

The Emirate’s Police Chief Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan said last week that some of Mabhuh’s killers used diplomatic passports.

These passports appear to have been falsified or stolen, as they belonged to what appear to be ordinary citizens shocked to learn of their being linked to the case.

“Friendly nations who have been assisting in this investigation have indicated to the police in Dubai that the passports were issued in an illegal and fraudulent manner,” said in the statement.

The use of European passports has sparked a diplomatic furor in which Israeli envoys in four countries have already been summoned for talks.

Khalfan has also said he is “99, if not 100 percent” sure that Israeli spy agency Mossad was behind Mabhuh’s death, and added that Dubai had evidence, including wiretaps, of the agency’s role.

Britain’s Sunday Times said the killing was carried out by Mossad with the blessing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The United Arab Emirates condemned the abuse of European passports by the assassins of Mabhuh, a founder of Hamas armed wing.

“The UAE is deeply concerned by the fact that passports of close allies, whose nationals currently enjoy preferential visa waivers, were illegally used to commit this crime,” said a Foreign Ministry statement carried by the official WAM news agency.

“The abuse of passports poses a global threat, affecting both countries’national security as well as the personal security of travelers,” said UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan in a statement.

Khalfan had also called for Hamas to conduct an internal investigation into the killing, pointing to a possible mole in the Palestinian Islamist movement – a theory Hamas rejected.

The source of the leak was the “real killer,” he was quoted as saying in Al-Ittihad newspaper.

Hamas rejected the idea of a leak, saying that “the fact that Mahmud al-Mabhuh was followed by agents of the Mossad does not mean that the movement (Hamas) is infiltrated.”

According to Khalfan, two Palestinians have been arrested in Jordan and extradited to Dubai, where they are being held in connection with the murder.

Hamas has blamed the killing entirely on Israel and vowed revenge.