US cuts UNESCO funding after Palestinian vote

David Killion, center, permanent delegate of the United States to UNESCO, reacts as delegates vote on Palestinian membership to the UN cultural agency in Paris

Coptic Christian protesters clashed with security forces in Cairo yesterday 24 deaths

Coptic Christian protesters clashed with security forces in Cairo yesterday

Obama eases Israeli anger on Mideast peace vision

President Barack Obama takes the stage to deliver remarks to delegates at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference in Washington, May 22, 2011.

President Barack Obama yesterday eased Israeli anger over his new Middle East peace proposals when he made clear that the Jewish state would likely be able to negotiate keeping some settlements in any final deal with the Palestinians.

Obama repeated his view that long-stalled peace talks should start on the basis of the Israel’s 1967 borders, an assertion that had infuriated Israeli leaders, exposed a rift between the two allies and raised further doubts about peace prospects.

Iran naval ships enter Suez Canal, says official

An Iranian naval ship travels through the Suez Canal near Ismailia, some 120km north of Cairo February 22, 2011. Two Iranian naval ships entered the Suez Canal today and were heading toward the Mediterranean, a canal official said, a move certain to anger Israel.


Two Iranian ships entered the Suez Canal today and were heading towards the Mediterranean, a canal official said.

“They entered the canal at 5.45am,” the official said. No other details were immediately available.

Israel had said it takes a “grave view” of the passage of the ships – the first Iranian naval vessels to go through the canal since Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution.

Protests continue in Middle East, North Africa

Violent protests continued to cloud several countries in the Middle East and North Africa on Friday, as nearly 30 bodies of protesters were found in Libya, three protesters were killed in Yemen and dozens wounded in Bahrain.

'Freedom Fever' Spreading in Middle East

As protests unfold today in the Middle East, we are seeing a freedom fever spreading across the region that will not easily be broken.

PLO says no talks until Israel halts settlements

The Palestinian leadership said on Saturday negotiations with Israel would not resume until it halted settlement building.

US-backed peace talks, launched a month ago in Washington, were plunged into crisis this week by the end of a 10-month Israeli moratorium on new settlement building in the West Bank. Israel has said it will not extend the freeze.

“The leadership confirms that the resumption of talks requires tangible steps, the first of them a freeze on settlements,” senior Palestine Liberation Official (PLO) Yasser Abed Rabbo said after a meeting in Ramallah.

“The Palestinian leadership holds Israel responsible for obstructing the negotiations,” he said, reading from a statement issued after the meeting.

In our world Islamic sympathizers are called terrorists

US envoy to try to salvage Mideast peace talks

Washington's special Mideast envoy is to pressure Israeli and Palestinian leaders to keep peace talks from collapsing just weeks after they began.

George Mitchell's mission follows Israel's decision to resume settlement construction in the West Bank after a 10-month freeze. The move has thrown the talks into disarray.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has threatened to walk out of the negotiations if Israel doesn't renew the moratorium.

The U.S. is disappointed over Israel's refusal to relent and has dispatched Mitchell to try to bridge the gaps. Mitchell is expected to arrive on Tuesday.

Abbas has said he will decide whether to quit the talks after consulting senior Arab officials next week. That gives U.S. mediators time to try to broker a compromise..

A Jewish settler boy looks at earth-moving equipment working at a construction site in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Ariel, Monday, Sept. 27, 2010. Senior Palestinian official Yasser Abed Rabbo said Monday that President Mahmoud Abbas remains ready to walk out on Mideast peace talks if Israel resumes construction in its West Bank settlements now that building restrictions have expired.

Obama to urge support for Middle East peace at UN

US President Barack Obama is to make a plea at the United Nations today for international support for the Middle East peace process, urging world leaders to make sure “this time is different” from previous failed efforts.

Obama (picture) is to urge opponents of Israel and the Palestinians to look beyond decades of mistrust and bloodshed and to resist pessimism in support of talks between the parties aimed at creating a Palestinian state living alongside Israel in peace and security.

Obama 'Cautiously Hopeful' About Mideast Talks - Israeli, Palestinian Leaders Look for Common Ground - Palestinians, Israelis Relaunch Talks

Mubarak urges Netanyahu to act on peace chance

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to make good on his vow to forge peace with the Palestinians and reiterated a plea for Israel to halt settlement activity.

On the eve of Thursday's first direct Israeli-Palestinian talks in 20 months in Washington, Mubarak said the Israelis should "seize the current opportunity" and "not let it slip through your fingers."

He was speaking at a press conference at the White House to launch the negotiations alongside US President Barack Obama, Netanyahu, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and King Abdullah II of Jordan.


 
Mubarak urged Netanyahu to make good on his vow to forge peace with the Palestinians

Seize moment for peace, Obama tells MidEast leaders

US President Barack Obama urged Israeli and Palestinian leaders yesterday not to let the chance for peace slip away as he opened a Washington summit shadowed by Middle East violence.

But with a fresh West Bank shooting attack and a persistent deadlock over Jewish settlements, Obama acknowledged scepticism “in some quarters” about his prospects for succeeding where so many US leaders have failed and said he was under no illusions about the challenges ahead.

Wading into peacemaking on the eve of the relaunch of face-to-face Israeli-Palestinian negotiations after a 20-month hiatus, Obama said leaders from both sides shared Washington’s conviction that a deal on Palestinian statehood could be reached within a year.

Obama said he told Abbas and Netanyahu that this chance may not repeat itself. .

Inside Story - Turkey's role in the Middle East-Activist Onboard Flotilla: 'Beaten', 'Tasered'

Israel eases Gaza blockade on some banned foods

Palestinians, some holding national flags, stand near the border line with Israel, background, during a weekly protest march against Israel, in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip, Tuesday June 8, 2010. The sudden opening of Gaza's gateway to the world through its southern border with Egypt has turned into a scene of extreme anxiety. Hundreds crowd around border officials to snatch updates on whether they can cross to Egypt by day's end, mostly only to be told "no."


A Palestinian girl holding a national flag stands near the border line with Israel, background, during a weekly protest march against Israel, in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip, Tuesday June 8, 2010. The sudden opening of Gaza's gateway to the world through its southern border with Egypt has turned into a scene of extreme anxiety. Hundreds crowd around border officials to snatch updates on whether they can cross to Egypt by day's end, mostly only to be told "no."


Palestinians, some holding national flags, approach the border line with Israel, seen in the background, during a weekly protest march against Israel, in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip, Tuesday June 8, 2010. The sudden opening of Gaza's gateway to the world through its southern border with Egypt has turned into a scene of extreme anxiety. Hundreds crowd around border officials to snatch updates on whether they can cross to Egypt by day's end, mostly only to be told "no."

Israel eased a three-year blockade of Gaza Wednesday to allow in some previously banned food items in an effort to defuse the worldwide furor over its deadly raid on a Gaza-bound international flotilla. But critics said the step falls far short of what is needed in the impoverished Palestinian territory.
In the first tangible step to temper the uproar caused by last week's raid, Israel only narrowly expanded the list of items that can enter by adding little more than snack foods and spices. It did not permit the most sought after items, such as cement, steel and other materials needed to rebuild the war-devastated territory and it was unlikely to ease international pressure.

Hymns and electric guitars: Jerusalem marks Easter-Christian pilgrims mark Easter in Jerusalem

----------

With ancient hymns and religious rock bands, Christians from around the world are celebrating Easter Sunday in Jerusalem.

Armenian Christians in ornate robes are holding a ceremony in the dark, incense-filled chambers of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Many Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried and then resurrected on Easter Sunday at this site.

Outside the Old City, members of Protestant church groups held their own celebration among the trees of the site known as the Garden Tomb, where some traditions say Jesus was buried.

Two guitarists, a drummer and a keyboard player led hundreds of worshippers in English prayer.

"All hail, redeemer, for thou hast died for me," they sang, some raising their hands and closing their eyes.

Thousands of Christian pilgrims streamed into Jerusalem's cavernous Church of the Holy Sepulchre to celebrate Easter Sunday at the traditional site of Jesus's crucifixion and burial.

Incense filled the air as Western and Orthodox pilgrims packed into the labyrinthine maze of chapels and crypts lit by thousands of candles as services were held at the grotto where Jesus is believed to have risen from the dead.

Women in shawls knelt to kiss the stone where Jesus's body is believed to have been prepared for burial as bearded monks in long black robes watched over visitors making their way through Christianity's holiest site.

"I came all the way from Belarus for the holiday," said Lana, 38, as she waited in a long line at one of the chapels. "I am so happy to be able to light a candle at this holy tomb."

The centuries-old church is shared uneasily by six denominations of Jesus Christ's followers -- Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Egyptian Copts, Syrian Orthodox and Ethiopian Orthodox.

In previous years Israeli police have had to rush into the church to break up fist fights between rival monks over alleged attempts to alter a delicate status quo hammered out over centuries, but this year calm prevailed.

The Latin Patriarch Fuad Twal welcomed the fact that Easter fell on the same day for Western and Eastern denominations, saying in his Easter sermon that "this year... our joy is double."

"Someone might be disturbed by the overlapping of prayers and songs... Yet this seeming cacophony, lived in faith, becomes instead a symphony that expresses the unity of the faith," he said.

Israeli police had stepped up security across the walled Old City during holy week, when thousands of pilgrims trace Jesus's final steps through its winding cobblestone streets.

Israel maintained a general closure of the West Bank imposed for the weeklong Jewish Passover holiday but the military said it issued more than 10,000 permits allowing Palestinian Christians to enter for up to two weeks.

Another 500 Christians from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, about a fourth of the territory's tiny non-Muslim minority, were also granted permits to travel to Israel and the West Bank, according to the military.

The Palestinians have however complained of restrictions, including long waits at the hundreds of checkpoints scattered across the occupied territory.

"My family got permits to come to Jerusalem but they decided not to because they will suffer at Qalandiya," said Rimas Kasabreh, 34, a Greek Orthodox woman living in Jerusalem, referring to the main checkpoint outside the city.

Her family hails from a village near the northern West Bank town of Jenin. "The lines take hours. It would spoil the happiness of the holiday," she said.

Jerusalem, with famed sites sacred to Jews, Muslims and Christians, has seen rising tensions in recent weeks following Israel's announcement of plans for new Jewish settlements in the mostly Arab eastern side of the city.

The Old City is part of east Jerusalem, which Israel occupied in the 1967 Six Day War and annexed in a move not recognised by any other government.

Israel views all of Jerusalem as its "eternal, undivided" capital, but the Palestinians have demanded east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, and the dispute over the city has paralysed US-led peace efforts.

In an Easter message delivered at the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI called for a "true exodus" from the Middle East conflict.

"I pray... that in the Middle East, and especially in the land sanctified by (Christ's) death and resurrection, the peoples will accomplish a true and definitive 'exodus' from war and violence to peace and concord," he said.



A Catholic priest prays during the Washing of the Feet ceremony inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, traditionally believed by many Christians to be the site of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus Christ, in Jerusalem's Old City, Thursday, April 1, 2010. Christians from around the world are in the Holy Land marking the solemn period of Easter.


Worshippers gathered at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to light their candles on the eve of Easter Sunday


Gaza's Christians celebrate Easter mass.


Pilgrims attended services held at the grotto where Jesus is believed to have risen from the dead


Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theofilos III, right, washes the foot of a priest during the Washing of the Feet ceremony outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, traditionally believed by many Christians to be the site of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus Christ, in Jerusalem's Old City, Thursday, April 1, 2010. Christians from around the world are in the Holy Land marking the solemn period of Easter


Ethiopian Orthodox Christian pilgrims pray inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, traditionally believed to be the site of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, in Jerusalem's Old City, Thursday, April 1, 2010. Christians from around the world are in the Holy Land marking the solemn period of Easter.

Israeli police, Palestinians clash on Temple Mount-Palestinian children killed in crash with Israel military

---

---

 Four children were among six Palestinians killed on Friday when their car collided with an Israeli military jeep

Palestinian children killed in crash with Israel military


Israeli police entered a controversial holy site in Jerusalem and clashed with Palestinians there on Friday, said an Israeli police spokesman.

Several hundreds of police officers entered the Temple Mount compound, which was known by Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary, after Palestinian youths threw stones at Jewish prayers from the hilltop, said Micky Rosenfeld, spokesman for Israel Police.

The Palestinian young men responded to the police entry by hurling stones at them. Security forces used stun grenades and other means to disperse the crowd.

Fifteen police officers were lightly wounded, and four Palestinians were arrested, Rosenfeld told Xinhua. The Bethlehem- based Maan News Agency reported that 60 Palestinians were injured, among which a woman was in serious condition.

An official of the Waqf, the Islamic trust which controls the place's day-to-day management, told local daily Ha'aretz that the collision followed a mosque sermon in the compound focusing on Islamic sites being targeted by Israel and the need to preserve them.

Israeli cabinet on Feb. 21 approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's National Heritage Plan, in which two West Bank religious sites - the Cave of the Patriarchs (known to Muslim as the Sanctuary of Abraham) in Hebron and Rachel's Tomb (Bilal Mosque) in Bethlehem - are among the 150 heritage sites to be restored.

The Israeli move triggered wide criticism, as well as continuing violence, which reached a high point last week when hundreds of Palestinians collided with Israeli security forces in Hebron.

The incident is also the latest of fights between Israelis and Palestinians over the holy place. Israeli police broke into the complex last Sunday after some Palestinians threw stones at visitors there. The entry of Israeli security personnel into the area was severely condemned by Muslim countries.

Considered as the holiest place in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam, the holy hilltop has been a tinderbox of violence between Israelis and Muslims after it was captured by Israel together with all of East Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War.

In September 2000, Israel's then opposition leader Ariel Sharon, who later became prime minister, visited the Temple Mount under the escort of hundreds of police officers, which was believed to be an important cause of the Second Intifida, a period of intensified Israeli-Palestinian violence claiming thousands of lives.

Four children were among six Palestinians killed on Friday when their car collided with an Israeli military jeep in the West Bank, emergency services said.

The crash, which occurred near the Jewish settlement of Ofra in the Ramallah area, also killed a man and a woman, as well as injured another Palestinian and four Israeli soldiers.

Among the dead were the driver, one of his wives and the children aged 10, three, two and two months, said Palestinian medical officials.

The dead man was identified as Bassam Abu Awad, from Bir Zeit near Ramallah, said the officials, adding the woman who survived was his other wife who suffered severe injuries.

Israel's military had earlier announced that four of its soldiers had been injured and that an investigation was to be launched into the accident.

"An inquest will be opened by the Israeli military and civilian police to determine liability in this accident," a military spokesman said without providing any further details.

Israeli television said the military vehicle was a jeep used for transporting troops, and that the soldiers on board at the time were slightly injured.

Meanwhile, the Israeli news website Ynet cited military sources as saying that the accident was caused by the Palestinian car going out of control when its tyres burst.

Israeli police, Palestinians clash on Temple Mount

Israeli police entered a controversial holy site in Jerusalem and clashed with Palestinians there on Friday, said an Israeli police spokesman.

Several hundreds of police officers entered the Temple Mount compound, which was known by Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary, after Palestinian youths threw stones at Jewish prayers from the hilltop, said Micky Rosenfeld, spokesman for Israel Police.

The Palestinian young men responded to the police entry by hurling stones at them. Security forces used stun grenades and other means to disperse the crowd.

Fifteen police officers were lightly wounded, and four Palestinians were arrested, Rosenfeld told Xinhua. The Bethlehem- based Maan News Agency reported that 60 Palestinians were injured, among which a woman was in serious condition.

An official of the Waqf, the Islamic trust which controls the place's day-to-day management, told local daily Ha'aretz that the collision followed a mosque sermon in the compound focusing on Islamic sites being targeted by Israel and the need to preserve them.

Israeli cabinet on Feb. 21 approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's National Heritage Plan, in which two West Bank religious sites - the Cave of the Patriarchs (known to Muslim as the Sanctuary of Abraham) in Hebron and Rachel's Tomb (Bilal Mosque) in Bethlehem - are among the 150 heritage sites to be restored.

The Israeli move triggered wide criticism, as well as continuing violence, which reached a high point last week when hundreds of Palestinians collided with Israeli security forces in Hebron.

The incident is also the latest of fights between Israelis and Palestinians over the holy place. Israeli police broke into the complex last Sunday after some Palestinians threw stones at visitors there. The entry of Israeli security personnel into the area was severely condemned by Muslim countries.

Considered as the holiest place in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam, the holy hilltop has been a tinderbox of violence between Israelis and Muslims after it was captured by Israel together with all of East Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War.

In September 2000, Israel's then opposition leader Ariel Sharon, who later became prime minister, visited the Temple Mount under the escort of hundreds of police officers, which was believed to be an important cause of the Second Intifida, a period of intensified Israeli-Palestinian violence claiming thousands of lives.


----

----

----

Dubai assassins drag America into row over fake passports- View the hit list photos. - View real photos of hit group in hotel

---





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.

Melvyn Adam Mildiner

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

Paul John Keeley

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"

Stephen Daniel Hodes

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

Jonathan Louis Graham

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

Michael Lawrence Barney

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"

James Leonard Clarke

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

Dubai: Hamas operative drugged, suffocated

 

Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was found dead in a hotel room in Dubai

Dubai police says forensic tests show a Hamas commander was drugged and then suffocated in his hotel room.

Police officials say tests showed a substantial amount of a fast-acting muscle relaxant called succinylcholine was found in Mahmoud al-Mabhouh's bloodstream.

The analysis was part of tests conducted after al-Mabhouh was killed Jan. 19. Dubai authorities have blamed a hit squad organized by Israel's Mossad secret service.

The drug is sometimes used to administer a breathing tube or anesthesia.

Dubai police on Sunday also said a third Palestinian suspect is in custody. At least 26 other suspects are wanted after being accused of traveling on fake European and Australian passports.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli Cabinet minister says the assassination of a Hamas operative in Dubai last month shows any member of the militant Islamic group can be targeted.

Trade Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told Army Radio on Sunday that he had no idea who killed Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. But he said the slaying shows Hamas that "none of their people are untouchable."

Ben-Eliezer, a former defense minister, said the killing would deter other Islamic militant groups.

Al-Mabhouh was killed by assassins in a posh Dubai hotel last month. Israel says al-Mabhouh was involved in smuggling weapons into the Gaza Strip. He was also wanted by Israel for the 1989 killing of two Israeli soldiers.

Israel hasn't confirmed or denied involvement. But its Mossad spy agency has widely been suspected.

A Hamas commander who was killed in his Dubai hotel room was drugged and then suffocated, according to results of forensic tests released by police.

Mahmoud al-Mabhouh's killers used a quick-acting muscle relaxant to help make the death seem "natural", a senior Dubai police officer said.

Israel's secret service has been widely blamed for the killing.

However Israel has said there is no evidence it was behind the death on 20 January.

It has accused Mabhouh of smuggling arms into Gaza and killing two Israeli soldiers.


'Rapid onset'

"The killers used the drug succinylcholine to sedate Mabhouh before they suffocated him," Maj Gen Khamis Mattar al-Mazeina, deputy commander of Dubai's police, said.

"The assassins used this method so that it would seem that his death was natural," AFP news agency quoted him as saying.

The agency said succinylcholine is favoured by anaesthetists and emergency doctors because of its rapid onset.

Some previous reports on Mabhouh's death have suggested he was electrocuted and suffocated.

Passport row

Dubai has identified 26 suspects in the murder and said they used British, Irish, French and Australian passports.

The use of the European and Australian passports in the assassination has sparked a diplomatic row between those countries and Israel.

The countries say the passports used by the murder suspects were forged.

British police officers are in Israel to investigate the use of fake British passports by some of the suspects.

Israeli officials have refused to either confirm or deny their country's involvement in the killing but have hailed it.

Trade Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said on Sunday he did not know who had carried it out, but it showed Hamas that "none of their people are untouchable".





Pictures of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a former Hamas commander, are seen in front of al-Wasim mosque at al-Yarmouk camp, near Damascus