Dubai assassination spotlights top cop skills in a modern-day Casablanca

Stepping out of the elevator, Mabhouh was escorted to Room 230. Unnoticed, the taller man followed him down the hall, noting his room number and that of the room opposite, 237.

The information was then communicated to a man with a French passport, one “Peter Elvinger,” who booked Room 237 from another hotel. But another man, a bald man using the name of “Kevin Daveron” soon arrived at the Rotana front desk, checked into Room 237, and took the keys – only to hand them off to “Gail Folliard,” who was carrying an Irish passport and whose hair looks like a red wig in the footage. She goes to Room 237. Three other men soon join her. Soon, seven of the team were gathered in Room 237, waiting.

The next time Folliard is seen, it’s 8:30 p.m., and she is waiting outside Room 230 with the bald man. Right then, inside the room, Mabhouh was being killed.

A few hours later, Folliard checked out of the hotel – paying her bill in cash – and boarded a flight with the bald man – now wearing a wig – to Paris. Others filed out the next morning, getting on flights to Hong Kong and South Africa before doubling back to Europe.

Lingering questions

“I am 99 percent, if not 100 percent, sure [it was the Mossad],” said Tamim, when the case first opened. By March 3, any doubt had disappeared as the police chief called for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu and Mossad chief Meir Dagan.

An Arab nationalist who has long voiced opposition to the quiet tolerance of Israelis in the Emirates, Tamim made it clear that any travelers suspected of being Israeli will not be allowed in at all. “This is an insult to us, to Britain, to Australia, to Germany ... and it’s shameful,” he told reporters.

Many agreed.

The British, Irish, French, German, and Australian governments have called Israeli ambassadors in to demand explanations as to how and why passports of their nationals were abused. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd stressed that he was “not satisfied” with the Israeli explanation

Israel has stuck to a narrow text. Ron Prosor, Israel’s ambassador to Britain, said simply that he is “unable to shed any further light on the events in question.”

Perhaps only the Dubai police chief knows if more information about the case will become public. But there remain many questions about one of the most extraordinary assassinations seen in Dubai to date.

Will it ever be confirmed that this was an Israeli hit squad? If it was Israel, why did three of the team leave on a boat bound for Iran? Did Israelis consent to having their identities used, or were they stolen?

Did European allies know about these forged identities and look the other way? If Palestinian members of Fatah collaborated with Israel, will this widen the divide between Hamas and Fatah? And how long will it take Hamas to replace its key arms smuggler with Iran?

This article draws on information released by Dubai police, reporting by Danna Harman in London, Carol Huang in Dubai, and phone interviews with Israeli sources.

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