Killer Thriller

Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was killed in a Dubai hotel. The police know how, and they believe they have photos of who pulled off the hit.

Since the victim was a military commander of Hamas, the Palestinian group which controls the Gaza strip, there could be a long list of plausible suspects... With Israel right on top.



Israel's Mossad spy agency — the prime suspect in the death of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh — has a long record employing similar methods of operation. They certainly have motive and opportunity.

But no specific element of assassin/spy "tradecraft" definitely singles out, or eliminates, Mossad, which has known both triumph and embarrassment in decades of warfare waged by covert killings.