JERUSALEM (JTA) — At least two of the alleged assassins involved in the killing of a top Hamas leader in Dubai entered the United States after the murder, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Citing "people familiar with the situation," the Journal reported Monday that one suspect entered the United States on Feb. 14 using a British passport. Another suspect using an Irish passport entered on Jan. 21 — a day after the body of top Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh’s body was found in a Dubai hotel room.
The 26 alleged assassins used fraudulent passports from Britain, Ireland, Australia, Germany and France, and reportedly scattered to several countries in the days following the murder.
There is no record of either man leaving the United States, but they could have left on other passports.
Israel’s Mossad security agency has come under international suspicion in the killing, as Al-Mabhouh was the official responsible for arranging arms supplies from Iran to Gaza and was a founder of the Hamas military wing, Izzadin Kassam. He also was involved in the 1989 kidnappings and murders of two Israeli soldiers, Avi Sasportas and Ilan Sa’adon.
Dubai, however, has not produced any solid evidence linking Israel to the killings.
Dubai police have said that they believe two U.S. financial companies issued and distributed credit cards used by 14 of the assassination suspects.
Meanwhile, Dubai Police Chief Dhahi Khalfan Tamim said Monday that he believes all the suspects in the assassination returned to Israel after their mission.
"I am sure that all suspects are in Israel," he told reporters, the French news agency AFP reported.
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