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Mabhouh suspects include Fatah men: Hamas
I love it when they eat their own ...Tomorrow's headline: Mabhouh Suspects include Hamas men: Fatah No, no. That was yesterday's headline. Tomorrow's headline sez it was Amy Bishop what dunnit. RAMALLAH -- Hamas claimed Friday that two ex-officers from the rival Fatah organization were involved in the assassination of a Hamas operative in Dubai, and Fatah shot back by insinuating Hamas members were the ones who collaborated with the killers. The slaying of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a luxury Dubai hotel room last month has widely been blamed on Israels Mossad spy agency but it also has sparked bitter recriminations among the rival Palestinian factions, which have long competed for influence in the Palestinian territories. Dubai police unveiled 11 suspects -- 10 men and one woman -- who apparently traveled to Dubai on European passports with real names and authentic data, but possibly altered photos. A Hamas Web site, the Palestine Information Center, said those two men were former Fatah security officers and current employees of a senior Fatah official, who was not identified. Dubai authorities have not identified the two Palestinians and would not comment Friday. Hamas stopped short of accusing Fatah of collaborating with the Mossad, however. Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas leadership The Hamas Web site identifies the two men as Anwar Shheibar and Ahmad Hassanain. It says they served in Fatahs security services in Gaza, fled the territory in 2006, and currently work for a construction company owned by a high-ranking Fatah official, Mohammed Dahlan. Dahlan denied any connection to the men or to the killing. "I dont have any companies in Dubai and I dont know these people," he told The Associated Press by telephone from Amman, Jordan. "Only Hamas knew he (al-Mabhouh) was in Dubai, so its their fault, not the Palestinian Authoritys," he said. "For political reasons Hamas is blaming us for its own internal problems." A Fatah spokesman also denied the charge. "Hamas is trying by these accusations to cover up the security flaws in the first lines of its leadership," said Adnan Damiri, a spokesman for Palestinian security forces in the Fatah-ruled West Bank. "Hamas is the only one to know the movement of Al-Mabhouh, and from there the information went to the Israelis." Officials of the Fatah-affiliated Palestinian Authority in the West Bank city of Ramallah said the two men are former members of Fatah who later joined Hamas security forces in Gaza. They said the men were sent to Dubai on Hamas business last month but had no further details. Posted by: Steve White 2010-02-20 |
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