INTERPOL issues Red Notices to assist in identification of 11 Dubai murder suspects

LYON, France – INTERPOL has issued Red Notices for 11 internationally-wanted individuals who have been charged by UAE/Dubai authorities with co-ordinating and committing the murder of Palestinian national and Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai on 19 January 2010.

Since INTERPOL has reason to believe that the suspects linked to this murder have stolen the identities of real people, the Red Notices specify that the names used were aliases used to commit murder. INTERPOL has officially made public the photos and the names fraudulently used on the passports in order to limit the ability of accused murderers from traveling freely using the same false passports.

The publication of the Red Notices came at the request of Dubai police and INTERPOL’s National Central Bureau (NCB) in Abu Dhabi, with whom the INTERPOL General Secretariat and Command and Co-ordination Centre in Lyon are working closely, together with NCBs in other member countries, to determine the true identities of the alleged perpetrators behind Mahmoud al-Mabhouh’s murder.

“Based on close co-operation among our member countries and on information provided by innocent citizens, it is becoming clear that those who carefully planned and carried out the murder of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh most likely used forged or fake European passports of innocent citizens whose identities were stolen,” said INTERPOL Secretary General Ronald K. Noble.

Mr Noble urged police to focus on the pictures of the suspects published in the INTERPOL Red Notice in deciding who to detain, question and apprehend.

“Since the names on the passports discovered as part of the Dubai Police's investigation are most likely the names of real and innocent people whose identities have been stolen, INTERPOL does not believe that we know the true identities of these wanted persons. We have therefore included the names fraudulently used because if any of the persons pictured on the INTERPOL Red Notice were found in possession of fraudulently altered or counterfeit passports, then such possession would be evidence of guilt for a variety of crimes,” said Secretary General Noble.

“The decision by Dubai and INTERPOL to share all existing available information with the international law enforcement community can only help shed light on those who perpetrated and masterminded the attack. In the process it will also help to establish the innocence of the ordinary citizens and even of countries whose identities were stolen and fraudulently used,” added Mr Noble.

Earlier this month, Secretary General Noble warned global leaders and decision-makers at the World Economic Forum in Davos of the international security threat posed by the use of fraudulent passports enabling criminals to travel undetected.

Dubai authorities have said that British, French, German and Irish passports were used in the operation to kill Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. A number of the individuals whose names were used have been reported as saying their identities were stolen and that they were not involved. Authorities in Britain, France, Germany and Ireland for their part say they believe the passports from their countries used by the alleged killers were fraudulently altered.

http://www.interpol.int/