Dubai, Asharq Al-Awsat- General Dahi Khalfan Tamim, the Commander of the Dubai Police force told Asharq Al-Awsat that his country will not accept the participation of any Hamas security delegation in its investigation into the assassination of senior Hamas figure Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, who Hamas claim was assassinated by Israel in Dubai over two weeks ago. Tamim confirmed that the UAE only deals with the Palestinian Authority saying “we do not deal with any other [Palestinian] individuals or groups.”

The Hamas movement announced that it will be sending a security delegation to Dubai in order to participate in the investigation into the al-Mabhouh assassination however General Tamim said that this offer will not be accepted by the UAE authorities. The Dubai Police Chief told Asharq Al-Awsat that “if Hamas asked to be involved in the investigation then our response to this would be that the issue is that of the sovereignty of the state, and it is not acceptable for any group to participate with us [in our investigation]…countries have the right of dealing with its internal issues without [external] intervention.”

Tamim added that “we have an ambassador who represents the people of Palestine, and we will only deal with him, as was the case in the murder of the Chechen leader [Sulim Yamadeyev].”

The Dubai Police Chief also denied that there was any information on a failed assassination attempt carried out against al-Mabhouh in Dubai a few months prior to his death, as has been claimed by Hamas. He said that if this was the case “why didn’t the party which claims this [occurred] reveal such an attempt [at the time]? They did not inform us or anyone of this [assassination attempt].”

The Dubai Police Chief also revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat that “at least seven individuals who are nationals of several European countries” are suspects in the al-Mabhouh assassination. General Tamim refused to reveal what European countries these suspects are nationals of, saying only “we are in contact with these countries to confirm the validity of the passports [used by the suspects].”

He also revealed that al-Mabhouh “was killed by strangulation” inside his hotel room “and it seems that he opened the door [to his attackers]” and that the official medical report indicates that “[his attackers] incapacitated him and then strangled him,”

General Tamim also posed the question “If Hamas knew that al-Mabhouh was such an important leader, why did they leave him unguarded, for Hamas leaders are always surrounded by guards.”

The Dubai Police Chief told the Palestinian Consul that the Dubai police “would work night and day to track down the perpetrators no matter how long this takes, and will never relent against the criminals who commit any crime that is punishable by law, whether in the UAE or abroad.”

He also revealed that al-Mabhouh arrived in Dubai on a passport that did not include his family name, and that Hamas failed to inform the UAE authorities of his presence.