This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/middle_east/8541612.stm
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Hamas man 'drugged and smothered' | Hamas man 'drugged and smothered' |
| (1 day later) | |
| A Hamas commander who was killed in his Dubai hotel room was drugged and then suffocated, according to results of forensic tests released by police. | A Hamas commander who was killed in his Dubai hotel room was drugged and then suffocated, according to results of forensic tests released by police. |
| Mahmoud al-Mabhouh's killers used a quick-acting muscle relaxant to help make the death seem "natural", a senior Dubai police officer said. | Mahmoud al-Mabhouh's killers used a quick-acting muscle relaxant to help make the death seem "natural", a senior Dubai police officer said. |
| Israel's secret service has been widely blamed for the killing. | Israel's secret service has been widely blamed for the killing. |
| However Israel has said there is no evidence it was behind the killing on 20 January. | |
| It has accused Mabhouh of smuggling arms into Gaza and killing two Israeli soldiers. | It has accused Mabhouh of smuggling arms into Gaza and killing two Israeli soldiers. |
| 'Rapid onset' | 'Rapid onset' |
| "The killers used the drug succinylcholine to sedate Mabhouh before they suffocated him," Maj Gen Khamis Mattar al-Mazeina, deputy commander of Dubai's police, said. | "The killers used the drug succinylcholine to sedate Mabhouh before they suffocated him," Maj Gen Khamis Mattar al-Mazeina, deputy commander of Dubai's police, said. |
| "The assassins used this method so that it would seem that his death was natural," AFP news agency quoted him as saying. | "The assassins used this method so that it would seem that his death was natural," AFP news agency quoted him as saying. |
| Succinylcholine is a rapid onset muscle paralysing agent, which has no sedative properties. Medics say that a person injected with the drug would eventually suffocate because his muscles are entirely paralysed. | |
| Some previous reports on Mabhouh's death have suggested he was electrocuted and suffocated. | Some previous reports on Mabhouh's death have suggested he was electrocuted and suffocated. |
| Passport row | Passport row |
| Dubai has identified 26 suspects in the murder and said they used British, Irish, French and Australian passports. | Dubai has identified 26 suspects in the murder and said they used British, Irish, French and Australian passports. |
| The use of the European and Australian passports in the assassination has sparked a diplomatic row between those countries and Israel. | The use of the European and Australian passports in the assassination has sparked a diplomatic row between those countries and Israel. |
| The countries say the passports used by the murder suspects were forged. | The countries say the passports used by the murder suspects were forged. |
| British police officers are in Israel to investigate the use of fake British passports by some of the suspects. | British police officers are in Israel to investigate the use of fake British passports by some of the suspects. |
| Israeli officials have refused to either confirm or deny their country's involvement in the killing but have hailed it. | Israeli officials have refused to either confirm or deny their country's involvement in the killing but have hailed it. |
| Trade Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said on Sunday he did not know who had carried it out, but it showed Hamas that "none of their people are untouchable". | Trade Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said on Sunday he did not know who had carried it out, but it showed Hamas that "none of their people are untouchable". |