Troubling questions from Dubai
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) February 18, 2010 - 1:00am

If Israel is behind last month's assassination of senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, it may be assumed that anybody who tried to appropriate some of the glory regrets it now. Dubai's police investigation may present the Israeli government and intelligence community with tough questions, even if the government did not take responsibility for the assassination, which the foreign press attributes to the Mossad. What at first seemed like a "clean" operation turned out to be wracked by negligent mishaps.

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Why did Hamas chief Mahmoud al-Mabhouh go to Dubai?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
by Andy Walker - February 18, 2010 - 1:00am

Amid all the speculation about who killed Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a question remains: What was he doing in Dubai? Hamas have refused to comment on the reasons for Mr Mabhouh's trip and they have limited their public pronouncements to promises of revenge against Israel. But why would a known militant leader - reportedly "at the top" of an Israeli hit list - leave the protection of Syria and his bodyguards to go to Dubai in the "Westernised" United Arab Emirates?

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Fake passports fuel questions about Israeli role in Hamas official's slaying
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Howard Schneider - February 18, 2010 - 1:00am

Pressure mounted Wednesday for Israel to respond to speculation that its Mossad spy agency killed a Hamas operative in a Dubai hotel last month, with Britain's prime minister promising to investigate the use of forged British passports by the alleged assassins and analysts in Israel taking unusual aim at the country's vaunted undercover organization.

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Use of citizens' identities in assassination roils Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - February 18, 2010 - 1:00am

Israel has seldom shied from attacking its enemies -- even if it takes years, even on foreign soil, even if it sours relations with allies. Israeli citizens for the most part have supported such policies and cheered their internationally respected spy agency, the Mossad, which obtained legendary status after hunting down and killing the terrorists responsible for the slaying of Israeli athletes during the 1972 Munich Olympics.

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Hamas Would Lose Elections
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Benjamin Joffe-Walt - February 18, 2010 - 1:00am

Survey finds Fatah to be 33% more popular than Hamas. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' party Fatah would crush their rivals Hamas were elections to be held today, a Palestinian survey has found. A survey conducted earlier this week in both the West Bank and Gaza and released Thursday found that 48 percent of voters would support Fatah were presidential elections held next week, while only 11 percent would vote for Hamas. 10 percent of respondents said they would vote for other Palestinian political parties and 31 percent said they were undecided or would not vote.

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Dubai says 99 pct sure Israel behind Hamas killing
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
February 18, 2010 - 1:00am

Dubai's police chief said he was 99 percent certain that Israel was involved in the January killing of a Hamas militant at a Dubai luxury hotel, according to an Emirati newspaper on Thursday. "Our investigations reveal that Mossad is involved in the murder of (Mahmoud) al-Mabhouh. It is 99 percent, if not 100 percent, that Mossad is standing behind the murder," police chief Dahi Khalfan Tamim told The National newspaper.


Palestinian Dubai Murder Suspects are Hamas Members – Palestinian Security Official
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Mohamed Al-Du'ma, Kifah Zaboun - February 17, 2010 - 1:00am

Palestinian Authority police spokesman General Adnan al-Dameeri played down Hamas's accusations that the two Palestinians who have been arrested in Dubai on suspicion of participating in the assassination of senior Hamas member Mahmoud al-Mabhouh were working for the Palestinian Authority security forces.

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Corruption…The Conflict between Ramallah and Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Ali Ibrahim - (Opinion) February 17, 2010 - 1:00am

The decision taken by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to suspend his chief of staff as a result of the case created by the dissident Palestinian intelligence officer who revealed violations and corruption committed by officials in the Palestinian Authority on Israeli television was most certainly the right decision. However we must take into account that a suspect is presumed innocent until proven guilty and it is the task of the commission of inquiry to investigate this and this commission is scheduled to submit its report within three weeks.

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Israelis Share Suspicions in Hamas Leader’s Killing
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - February 17, 2010 - 1:00am

The initial nods, winks and pats on the back here over the assassination last month of a senior Hamas official in Dubai are turning to puzzlement and concern as mounting evidence, including extensive surveillance videos, points to a remarkably clumsy operation many Israelis deem unworthy of their intelligence service, Mossad.

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Taking credit without responsibility, Israel expects little diplomatic fallout
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Omar Karmi - February 17, 2010 - 1:00am

Was it a diplomatic mess or a political success? Israeli opinion about the assassination of Mahmoud al Mabhouh in a Dubai hotel last month swings between both, even as few rule out the possibility of Mossad involvement. The Israeli government is maintaining its standard policy of ambiguity in such cases, neither confirming nor denying involvement, a policy that enables the country to claim “credit” without taking responsibility.

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