Israel blamed for murder of Hamas chief

A Hamas official was murdered in a Dubai hotel room last week by Israeli agents, the Palestinian militant group claimed yesterday.

Relatives of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, 50, a founder of Hamas's military wing, said he was electrocuted and strangled. Dubai's police chief said he could not rule out the involvement of the Israeli secret service, the Mossad.

He said Mr Mabhouh, who lived in Syria, was killed by a "professional criminal gang" that left before the corpse was found. The killers had tracked their victim before he arrived in Dubai on 19 January, and most used European passports.

Mr Mabhouh had survived previous assassination attempts, including one that left him in a coma for a day. Israel refused to comment last night.