Report: Dubai wants ‘cameras everywhere’ to increase surveillance after Hamas man assassinated

Report: Dubai plans more cameras after Hamas hit

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Dubai will beef up its surveillance capability by installing more cameras around the city-state after the hit squad suspected of murdering a Hamas operative was caught on a hotel video, a newspaper reported Sunday.

The emirate’s existing network of 25,000 security cameras has helped police identify the members of an alleged hit squad who killed Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in his Dubai hotel room in January. Dubai blamed Israel’s Mossad spy agency and alleged the assassins traveled there on fake identities and forged European and Australian passports.

Police released a 10-minute compilation of video surveillance showing several of 32 identified suspects arriving at Dubai airport, entering a hotel lobby and even riding an elevator with the victim.

Dubai Police Chief Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim told local newspaper The National that the 1,700 hours of footage from closed circuit cameras police reviewed after al-Mabhouh was found dead in his hotel room on Jan. 20 provided crucial material for untangling the complex plot. Tamim could not immediately be reached on Sunday to confirm the report.

“With the al-Mabhouh murder, we were able to play back time through the footage captured by cameras and … we were able to pull the strings together and identify the suspects,” Tamim told the newspaper. He said Dubai will spend $136 million to get more cameras that will cover “dead spots” in the city.

“We will have cameras everywhere,” Tamim said.