Dubai to tighten up inspection of Western passports Emirate seeks Netanyahu's arrest over hotel murder

Dubai's police chief said on Tuesday that Western passports will be closely inspected following the murder of a senior Hamas militant in the Gulf emirate but that Jews would not be singled out. "We respect all people and all religions, whether they are Muslims, Jews, Christians or others," Dahi Khalfan told AFP, when asked about remarks attributed to him

Dubai's police chief said on Tuesday that Western passports will be closely inspected following the murder of a senior Hamas militant in the Gulf emirate but that Jews would not be singled out.

"We respect all people and all religions, whether they are Muslims, Jews, Christians or others," Dahi Khalfan told AFP, when asked about remarks attributed to him that "all Jews" would be prevented from entering Dubai.

He said immigration services would be on their guard "after Israel's abuse of passports from Western countries," although there was no way of knowing if a Westerner entering the United Arab Emirates [UAE] was Israeli with dual citizenship.

"The officers of the immigration service will now look twice if they have any doubt about the documents or photos, and will scan them," the police lieutenant general said.

Khalfan said that he was certain Israel's intelligence service Mossad was behind the assassination of Hamas chief Mahmud al-Mabhouh.

"I am now completely sure that it was Mossad," he said.

Mabhouh, a founder of the Palestinian Islamist Hamas organization's military wing, was found dead in his Dubai hotel room on January 20.

"I have presented the [Dubai] prosecutor with a request for the arrest of [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and the head of Mossad," Meir Dagan, the police chief said.

Two members of the hit squad which killed Mabhouh had "returned to the United States after passing through a European country," said Khalfan, who on Monday said the suspects were hiding out in Israel where they could avoid arrest.

Twelve British, six Irish, four French, three Australian and one German passport were used by 26 identified suspects, according to Dubai police, who say they fled the Gulf emirate on flights to Europe and Asia.

Khalfan said on Tuesday a 27th member of the team that killed Mabhouh had been identified. The police head did not, however, give details as to the new suspect's nationality.

Israeli officials have refused to confirm or deny the charges against Mossad but the killing has caused a diplomatic headache for Israel with the countries whose passports were used summoning its envoys to hear angry protests.

On Tuesday, a spokeswoman for Australia's department of foreign affairs said that Australian police and passport officials are being dispatched to Israel to meet with three dual Australian-Israeli nationals whose passports were used in the slaying of Mabhouh.

The spokeswoman, speaking from the Australian capital, Canberra, had no details on when the team would arrive in Israel. She spoke on customary condition of anonymity.

In other news, a UAE newspaper, The National, reported on Tuesday that Dubai has asked the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation to look into US-issued pre-paid credit cards used by suspects in the killing of the senior Hamas military commander.

"Thirteen of the 27 suspects used prepaid MasterCards issued by MetaBank, a regional American bank, to purchase plane tickets and book hotel rooms," the paper said, citing Dubai police.

Israel has alleged that Mabhouh was in Dubai to smuggle weapons from Iran to Palestinian militants in Gaza, which has been under Hamas control since 2007.

On Tuesday, Mabhouh's right-hand man confirmed those claims.

Mohammad Nassar was speaking to Hamas' Al-Aqsa radio in Gaza from Damascus.

"[Mabhouh] never stopped thinking about how to fight the occupation by supplying quality weapons to the Palestinian fighters," Nassar told the radio station. - Agencies