THE MYSTERY surrounding the alleged involvement of three Irish passport holders in the assassination of a senior Hamas operative in Dubai deepened yesterday after the Department of Foreign Affairs said it had no record of passports issued in the names identified by the emirate’s authorities earlier this week.
Dubai police released on Monday the names and photographs of 11 European passport holders they claim comprised the team responsible for killing Mahmoud al Mabhouh, who was found dead in his hotel room last month. Hamas has accused Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency of orchestrating the assassination.
A number of Gulf media outlets yesterday published the names and passport numbers of those allegedly implicated in the murder. According to the Gulf News, the supposed Irish citizens were Kevin Daveron (38), whose passport number was given as 980975; Gail Folliard (34), whose passport number was given as 800650447; and Evan Dennings (35), whose passport number was given as 882598.
The passport numbers appear to be counterfeit because they contain no letters and have the wrong number of digits.
“We have been unable to find any record of Irish passports having been issued with details corresponding to the details published today in a number of United Arab Emirates (UAE) newspapers,” the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement yesterday. “We are in ongoing contact with the UAE authorities to try to ascertain the exact facts of the case. To date, we have received no evidence that any Irish nationals were involved.”
The UAE’s newly appointed ambassador to London, Khalid Nasser Rashid Lootah, who also has responsibility for Ireland, will be in Dublin today to present his credentials to President Mary McAleese. It is expected that Irish officials will discuss the matter with the ambassador during his visit.
Doubts have also been raised about the identities of seven other members of the alleged assassination team. Britain’s foreign office said yesterday that it believed British passports used by six of the suspects were fraudulent. In Germany, the interior ministry noted the five-digit passport number given for the lone German suspect is too short and lacks the letters that now appear on its passports.
Dubai’s public prosecution office yesterday issued arrest warrants for the 11 individuals. Officials have said they will seek assistance from Interpol and press individual states to track down the suspects.
Dubai police have named the main suspect as Peter Elvinger (49), who travelled to the emirate on a French passport. He is alleged to have co-ordinated the killing and booked a hotel room down the corridor from Mabhouh’s room. Surveillance video footage presented by police earlier this week shows the suspects arriving at Dubai airport. All 11 were filmed flying out to destinations in Europe and Asia within 19 hours of their arrival.