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Roy Cannon?s identity was used to enter America
The United States was dragged yesterday into the international row over the murder of a top Hamas official in Dubai with the disclosure that two of the suspected assassins fled to America.
The Dubai police believe that at least two of the 27-strong team that killed Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a founder of the Palestinian group’s military wing, used fake passports to enter the United States after the murder on January 19.
Sources close to the case told The Times that one of the suspects entered the United States using a British passport in the name of Roy Cannon, a Briton living in Israel, whose family say that his identity was stolen by the team that carried out the killing.
The disclosure could strain US-Israeli relations because it suggests that the suspected Israeli agents may have violated American law by using false passports to enter the country.
Dubai police have already traced credit cards used by the suspected assassins to the US-based MetaBank and Payoneer Inc, a card distributor. Payoneer, a company founded in New York in 2005 with offices in Israel, is run by Yuval Tal, who appeared as a television commentator on Fox News during the 2006 Lebanon war identifying himself as a former Israeli special forces soldier.
A day after Mr al-Mabhouh’s body was found, a suspect carrying an Irish passport in the name of Evan Dennings entered the United States, The Wall Street Journal said. Dubai authorities had previously said that the person purporting to be Mr Dennings left the emirate on January 20 for Zurich.
The suspect passing himself off as Mr Cannon later entered the United States on February 14, the newspaper said.
There are no records of either suspect leaving the United States — although they could have done so using other passports.
The police chief of Dubai said that the suspects would not have dared to use American passports for the clandestine operation.
“I think Israel was scared of provoking a clash with the United States, which it considers its best friend,” Lieutenant-General Dahi Khalfan Tamim told al-Khaleej newspaper.
The police chief told a press conference yesterday that he believed that all the named suspects in the case had now returned to Israel. “All of them [are in Israel]. These are agents for the Mossad, we know this,” Mr Tamim told reporters in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
“They travelled to European countries and to the US using the same documents they used to enter here.”
Dubai announced yesterday that it would bar Israelis travelling on other passports from entering its territory by studying their faces. Mr Tamim said that officers would be trained to recognise Israelis from their “physical features and the way they speak”.
The intention is to ban all Israelis from the United Arab Emirates even if they hold British or another dual nationality. “We will not allow those who hold Israeli passports into the UAE, no matter what other passport they have,” Mr Tamim said.
In all, Dubai police have named 12 British passport holders among the suspects. All are believed to be UK citizens resident in Israel and victims of identity theft.
• A Lebanese man arrested last month on suspicion of spying for Israel has confessed to involvement in a bomb attack in 2004 that killed Ghaleb Awali, a senior Hezbollah official, a Lebanese security source told reporters yesterday.
This passport picture is of a man who claimed to be Melvyn Adam Mildiner, 31. The real Mr Mildiner moved to Israel from Britain nine years ago. He lives near Jerusalem and says he has never been to Dubai or lost a passport. The date of birth and photograph used there do not match his. "I have no idea how to clear my name. Interpol has a warrant out for my arrest. I don’t know how I will travel. I went to bed with pneumonia and woke up a ’murderer’," he told the Jerusalem Post
This passport picture is of a man who claimed to be Paul John Keeley, 42. The gang used false hair and beards. The real Paul John Keeley was born in Yalding near Maidstone but emigrated to Israel about 15 years ago. He has two children with his wife, Sifa; the family live on the Naehsholim Hof Kibbutz near Tel Aviv. He last left Israel in 2008 on a trip to Turkey. "It’s scary when someone steals your identity," he said. The photograph "doesn’t even look like me. I’m just a father, a husband and a kibbutz resident"
This passport photo is said to be of Stephen Daniel Hodes, 37. The real Mr Hodes is a physiotherapist who moved to Israel from his native Salford over ten years ago. He now works at the Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. He is married with two children and his parents also relocated to Israel. "I have never been to Dubai. I don’t know what is happening. I am simply afraid," he said
This passport picture is of a man who claimed to be Jonathan Louis Graham, 31. The real Mr Graham is an IT worker from Hertfordshire who moved to Israel three to four years ago. He is married with two young children. Former neighbours described them as a devout and community-minded family. "I’ve got enough of my own life to deal with. It’s not me," he said. His parents have also moved to Israel
This passport photo is said to be of Michael Lawrence Barney, 54. The real Mr Barney was born and brought up in Stoke Newington, North London, and moved to Israel in the 1970s to work on a kibbutz. He now writes software manuals, has three children, and has undergone quadruple heart bypass surgery. "I was shocked. My picture is being beamed around the world and I’m being called a terrorist," he said. "I’m not exactly spy material"
This passport photo is said to be of James Leonard Clarke, 49. The real Mr Clarke, from East Sussex, moved to Israel several years ago. Details on the passport used in Dubai appear to match his
Hit squads in Hotel following their target.
Relatives sit underneath posters bearing the photograph of al-Mabhouh in a home in the Jebaliya refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip. Hamas accused Israeli agents of carrying out the killing and said it would retaliate
Pictures released by Dubai police of the suspects. The passports were forged or the identities of innocent people had been used: (From left to right, top row) They used the following identities: Evan Dennings of Irish nationality, Gail Folliard of Irish nationality, James Leonard Clarke of British nationality, Jonathan Louis Graham of British nationality; (From left to right, middle row) Michael Bodenheimer of German nationality, Paul John Keeley of British nationality, Michael Lawrence Barney of British nationality; (From left to right, bottom row) Peter Elvinger of French nationality, Kevin Daveron of Irish nationality, Melvyn Adam Mildiner of British nationality, Stephen Daniel Hodes of British nationality
A hit squad is suspected of the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh at Al Bustan Rotana hotel in Dubai in room 230 on January 20
The murder was uncovered days later when local security services were told who the victim was. Al-Mabhouh had also been travelling under a false passport. The writing in Arabic reads: "Your fingerprints are everywhere ... we promise to continue in your path," and "the martyr the leader Mahmoud Abed el-Raouf al-Mabhouh"
The mother of captured and killed soldier Ilan Saadon displays her son’s portait in her house in the southern Israeli town of Ashkelon. Israel believes al- Mabhouh was responsible for the abduction and murder
Al-Mabhouh took no notice of the two men who joined him in the lift on the short ride to the second floor. Dressed in sports gear and carrying tennis rackets, they looked like any other European tourists in the Gulf. He did not realise that they were part of the team who had come to kill him.
The cause of his death was initially believed to be an increase of blood pressure in the brain. The Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, bottom left, marches with mourners carrying al-Mabhouh’s coffin. The funeral took place in the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk, near Damascus, Syria
The men followed their target to his room, saw its number - 230 - and the one across the hall - 237. A call was then made and one of the men - using the name Peter Elvinger - booked room 237 from the business suite of another hotel. Five hours later al-Mabhouh was dead
The father of a senior Hamas military commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh with his son’s picture at his home in the northern Gaza Strip. When al-Mabhouh returned to the hotel at 8.24pm his killers were in place. Police believe he was asphyxiated. By 8.46pm the four killers are shown leaving the second floor, followed closely by their spotters in room 237. Two hours later the team boarded planes to France, Hong Kong and South Africa before doubling back to Europe. Al-Mahbouh’s body was not found until 1.30pm the following afternoon. His room showed no sign of forced entry
After checking into hotels the previous night, a woman, whose passport bore the name Gail Folliard, joins others at a shopping centre to finalise details of the hit
Mahmoud al-Mabhouh touched down in Dubai around 3pm from Damascus to arrange a shipment of weapons to Gaza. Hamas has not explained why one of its senior commanders, a marked man with several assassination attempts against him already, should have arrived alone without any security. He is seen here at the top of the picture checking in wearing a dark suit
There was no security camera covering the door to al-Mabhouh’s room and no footage of how the team gained entry. The woman in the squad known as Gail Folliard patrolled the corridor outside. She was seen to distract a hotel guest who appeared at the second floor lift for a few vital seconds to give the killers time to gain access to the room
Al-Mabhouh was last seen alive leaving the lift after a short visit out of the hotel, apparently to meet a contact. While he was out the killers moved swiftly into place. Four burly men arrived in room 237. Al-Mabhouh returned to the room in which he was killed
Another of the suspects arrives at the shopping centre. The killers had lain in wait for al-Mabhouh, whom Hamas admits was involved in the killing of two Israeli soldiers in 1989, since the previous night
The group switched hotels several times and wore disguises including false beards and wigs. Surveillance teams rotated in pairs through the hotel lobby never hanging around for too long and paying for everything in cash. One of the suspects went into the toilet and emerged dressed in a wig and glasses
Flying in from Paris, Frankfurt, Rome and Zurich, the team arrived within three hours of each other. In this picture two of the suspects make it through border security in Dubai with their false identities before heading to the luxury hotel
The hit-squad’ travelled under fake British, Irish, French and German passports to enter the country. The Dubai authorities released the names and photos of the 10 men and a woman wanted for the murder. There are now thought to be 17 people who took part. Gordon Brown has called for an investigation in to the use of British passports
The Hamas chief was followed by his alleged killers throughout the day. CCTV released by Dubai police show surveillance teams rotating in pairs awaiting his arrival at the luxury hotel
