The Dubai police chief's outlandish claims

Washington Post ^ | March 3, 2010 | Jackson Diehl

[ricks_place]

Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim, the police chief of Dubai, certainly knows how to milk a good story for all it’s worth. It’s now been six weeks since Hamas operative Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was found dead in his room in an airport hotel, and most of the world long ago concluded that Israel’s Mossad spy agency was responsible. Yet day after day Tamim continues to make headlines, dribbling out more details of the clumsy and not-so-clandestine operation and issuing grandiose pronouncements.

Today, for example, he was quoted as saying Dubai would issue an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Binjamin Netanyahu and Mossad chief Meir Dagan. Two days ago, he announced that Dubai would begin training immigration officials to spot Israeli faces and accents, so as to prevent citizens of the Jewish state from entering on third-country passports. That followed a press conference last month at which he said he was “99 percent, if not 100 percent sure” that Mossad was behind the killing.

The general has an eager audience for these repetitive and increasingly implausible declarations -- especially in the Arab and European media, which revel in excoriating Israel for deeds those media routinely excuse or ignore when practiced by other governments. In an interesting bit of jujitsu, an editorial in London’s Financial Times on Monday lamented what it claimed was the softer standard “wimpish” European leaders apply to Israel for its “lawless behavior,” not to mention “possible war crimes” in Gaza.

“If, say Russia’s FSB, or Libyan agents, had carried out a killing… the discussion would have taken a different turn,” huffed the FT.

Well put – except, Russia did carry out a killing in Dubai, less than a year ago. The victim was Sulim Yamadayev, a former Chechen general, who was gunned down in the parking lot outside his apartment...

[ricks_place]

Dubai blames Israel yet all signs point to Egypt as the assassin. Mahmoud al-Mabhouh probably stirred up unwanted unrest on the border of Egypt. Hamas has killed Egyptian soldiers/police, smuggled arms across the border, and fomented Jihad in a nation barely keeping the lid on its own disaffected population. Thank you Egypt for killing a terrorist needing to be killed but the false flag has left Israel holding the bag!

[SJackson]

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First, and probably last, time Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim has his name in the international media. He'll milk it for all it's worth.

[SunkenCiv]

"If, say Russia's FSB, or Libyan agents, had carried out a killing... the discussion would have taken a different turn," huffed the FT. Well put -- except, Russia did carry out a killing in Dubai, less than a year ago. The victim was Sulim Yamadayev, a former Chechen general, who was gunned down in the parking lot outside his apartment...

Thanks ricks_place.