Israelis convinced: Mossad behind Dubai hit

By STEVEN GUTKIN
Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM (AP) - Israeli security officials said Wednesday they were convinced the Mossad was behind the assassination of a Hamas commander in Dubai and harshly criticized the spy agency for allegedly stealing the identities of its own citizens to carry out the hit.

Names released by Dubai matched seven people living in Israel, raising questions about why the agency would endanger its own people by using their passport data as cover for a secret death squad.

At the same time, some Israeli experts said the Dubai evidence pointed to a setup to falsely blame Israel.

A vague comment from Israel's foreign minister, who neither confirmed nor denied Mossad's involvement, only added to the spy novel-like mystery surrounding the slaying of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, who was found dead Jan. 20 at a luxury hotel near Dubai's international airport.

"Israel never responds, never confirms and never denies," Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in Israel's first official comment on the affair, then added: "I don't know why we are assuming that Israel, or the Mossad, used those passports."

Some senior Israeli security officials not directly involved in the case were less circumspect, saying they were convinced it was a Mossad operation because of the motive _ Israel says al-Mabhouh supplied Gaza's Hamas rulers with their most dangerous weapons _ and the use of Israeli citizens' identities.

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