MORE ON WHODUNIT IN DUBAI…FATAH NOW AMONG THE SUSPECTS

Posted By on February 19th, 2010

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/dubai/7267158/Fatah-members-linked-with-assassination-of-Hamas-commander-in-Dubai.html

Fatah members linked with assassination of Hamas commander in Dubai
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, is facing accusations of collusion with Israel after two former members of his Fatah faction were linked to the assassination of a Hamas commander in Dubai last month.
By Adrian Blomfield in Tel Aviv
Published: 6:00AM GMT 19 Feb 2010
Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a senior Hamas military commander Photo: REUTERS
The two men, who are both in custody in Dubai, supplied logistical support to an assassination squad that carried out the killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, according to police in the Gulf state.

Making a potentially explosive accusation, Hamas alleged that Ahmad Hasnin and Anwar Shekhaiber are employed by a company whose owner is a top confidante of Mr Abbas, the western-backed leader of the Palestinian Authority, which controls the West Bank.

Already facing domestic criticism for allegedly pursuing an overly cosy relationship with Israel, the allegations are likely to cause deep discomfort for Mr Abbas. They could also complicate faltering diplomatic efforts to end a bitter feud between Mr Abbas’s moderate Fatah faction and the Islamists of Hamas, which controls Gaza.

The two factions fought a brief civil war in 2007, which ended when Fatah was ejected from Gaza.

“We know that the two Palestinians that were arrested worked as police officers with the Fatah police in Gaza before Hamas took control,” Ihab Ghussain, a spokesman for the Hamas interior ministry in Gaza, was quoted as saying.

Fatah acknowledged that both men, who were extradited to Dubai from Jordan, were employed by the Palestinian Authority until 2007 but maintained that neither remained in service after the civil war.

Allies of Mr Abbas sought to deflect the charges of collusion by repeating claims that Hamas had been infiltrated by Israeli intelligence and that at least one of the two men had fled Gaza after his cover as an Israeli double agent had been exposed.

“Hamas should extensively search the scope of penetration within its ranks that has led to the assassination of Mabhouh and other Hamas leaders,” a spokesman for the Palestinian Authority security forces said.

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