A few weeks ago we asked if Israel assassinated a senior member of Hamas in Dubai. Authorities in Dubai had blamed the death by electrocution of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a senior military operative of Hamas on assassins who then fled the country. Well this week the plot, it seems, has thickened. Dubai investigators released this video from CCTV cameras they say show the 17 member hit squad. Eleven of the suspects names have been released as well as their passport photos. They were (unsurprisingly) traveling under fake names – the names of Israeli EU passport holders who deny any involvement in the affair. Here are the photos. Israel for its part denies having anything to do with the killing, though no one expects the Mossad to come out and claim responsibility anyway. The best backgrounder on this thus far comes from True/Slant's Neal Ungerleider (love that guy!) who writes: The Israeli intelligence agency certainly has the motives and the means. The modus operandi also fits prior Mossad operations. However, certain facts don’t add up. Mossad agents have had a long presence in the United Arab Emirates, which Israel has long held discrete economic and trade relations with. Presumably, had the Mossad been responsible, agents who had staked out the hotel prior would have been aware of the locations of both public and hidden CCTV cameras. The agents caught on camera, while highly professional, engaged in some odd behavior. The donning of fake beards and glasses in view of security cameras is one. Using the names of Israeli citizens for fake passports is another — what security agency would implicate their own citizens? Additionally, there is always the possibility of a false flag operation — where a foreign intelligence agency killed al-Mabhouh for their own purposes, while making it look like a Mossad killing. But who could possibly want to implicate Israel in an assassination? (I kid.) Who do you think is responsible? Take a wild guess? Sloppy Mossad operatives? False flag flying Iranian Revolutionary Guardsmen? Give us your best Dubai assassination theory in the comments. added by: afitzgerald
