Mossad chief faces axe over Dubai fiasco

[PracticalGuy]

Israel's long-time super spy Meir Dagan, who heads the country's ultra secretive Mossad, is likely to step down in three months time apparently because of an international furore over the Dubai [ Images ] killing of a top Hamas [ Images ] commander.

Dagan, the chief of Israel's espionage agency has served as Mossad Director since 2002 and was dubbed as the man of the year two years ago by the Israeli media.

But the Dubai fiasco seems to have cast a shadow over his tenure, with the government denying him another extension, after the expiry of his term in 90 days.

Mossad's activities came in for severe international criticism after the January assassination of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai, widely believed to have been carried out by Mossad agents using forged foreign passports.

Dagan, who was recently described in the Arab world as the Jewish state's 'superman', is likely to step down in three months after being denied another extension due to the embarrassment caused by the alleged Dubai affair, Israel's Channel 2 reported.

It said the chief spy had requested another year as the head of the intelligence agency, but his request was turned down. The Prime Minister's Office did not comment on the report.

The Mossad chief was appointed to the post by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon eight years ago and his term was later extended by both Ehud Olmert and current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for some of the heroic exploits reported in the international media and attributed to the agency.

However, Dagan, dubbed the man of the year two years ago by the Israeli media, faced international criticism after the January assassination of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai, which was widely believed to be carried out by Mossad agents using forged foreign passports.

Israel has maintained that there is no proof tying it to the killing of the Hamas commander but the affair caused a lot of embarrassment to the state given that several passports used in the affair belonged to Israelis with dual nationality.

It also led to a diplomatic row with the affected countries, with Ireland and Australia [ Images ] expelling Israeli diplomats over the affair, the Dubai police calling for Dagan's resignation, and Britain expelling a Mossad official.
Dagan's successes in operations against Hizbullah, Hamas, Syria and Iran, had endeared him to the political leadership as well as the Israeli public before he fell out of favour following the latest intelligence operation.


Mossad chief faces axe over Dubai fiasco: Rediff.com India News

 

[alibaz]

Israel's long-time super spy Meir Dagan, who heads the country's ultra secretive Mossad, is likely to step down in three months time apparently because of an international furore over the Dubai [ Images ] killing of a top Hamas [ Images ] commander.

Dagan, the chief of Israel's espionage agency has served as Mossad Director since 2002 and was dubbed as the man of the year two years ago by the Israeli media.

But the Dubai fiasco seems to have cast a shadow over his tenure, with the government denying him another extension, after the expiry of his term in 90 days.

Mossad's activities came in for severe international criticism after the January assassination of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai, widely believed to have been carried out by Mossad agents using forged foreign passports.

Dagan, who was recently described in the Arab world as the Jewish state's 'superman', is likely to step down in three months after being denied another extension due to the embarrassment caused by the alleged Dubai affair, Israel's Channel 2 reported.

It said the chief spy had requested another year as the head of the intelligence agency, but his request was turned down. The Prime Minister's Office did not comment on the report.

The Mossad chief was appointed to the post by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon eight years ago and his term was later extended by both Ehud Olmert and current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for some of the heroic exploits reported in the international media and attributed to the agency.

However, Dagan, dubbed the man of the year two years ago by the Israeli media, faced international criticism after the January assassination of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai, which was widely believed to be carried out by Mossad agents using forged foreign passports.

Israel has maintained that there is no proof tying it to the killing of the Hamas commander but the affair caused a lot of embarrassment to the state given that several passports used in the affair belonged to Israelis with dual nationality.

It also led to a diplomatic row with the affected countries, with Ireland and Australia [ Images ] expelling Israeli diplomats over the affair, the Dubai police calling for Dagan's resignation, and Britain expelling a Mossad official.
Dagan's successes in operations against Hizbullah, Hamas, Syria and Iran, had endeared him to the political leadership as well as the Israeli public before he fell out of favour following the latest intelligence operation.


Mossad chief faces axe over Dubai fiasco: Rediff.com India News

The problem is that it is not being done on world pressure . If he will be removed another killer will come so no change in equation.

 

[Old School]

Every dog has his day. This operation in Dubai was too nude to be of an Intel organization. It also undermined the objectives. Therefore, he had to go. An inlet chief must make sure that his name is off the media and when he starts getting media coverages , that means that he is not doing his job well. What he did in Dubai , could have been easily carried out by a robber. He did not need to make so much mess for the government.

 

[Dr.Evil]

Dubai fiasco was a bad PR for Mossad.

 

[Vassnti]

Every dog has his day. This operation in Dubai was too nude to be of an Intel organization. It also undermined the objectives. Therefore, he had to go. An inlet chief must make sure that his name is off the media and when he starts getting media coverages , that means that he is not doing his job well. What he did in Dubai , could have been easily carried out by a robber. He did not need to make so much mess for the government.

The much-publicized hotel surveillance videos, while highly diverting on YouTube, do not show any of the 26 suspects engaging in any illegal activities other than using false identities, a practice which is not unknown in Dubai (Mabhouh himself reportedly had five different passports). Even if all 26 identity thieves were intelligence operatives, as seems the case, it does not necessarily follow that they were all in Dubai on the same business, or even working for the same side.
Since Iran maintains its largest offshore financing facility in Dubai-which is used by the Revolutionary Guard, among others, to support its traffic in covert weapons- more than one intelligence service might be interested in Mabhouh's trip. Consider, for example, the peculiar fact that two of the 26 Dubai suspects exited by boat to Iran, according to Dubai authorities; this is not a likely escape route for Mossad agents.
Two other individuals whom the Dubai police had named as suspects worked for the Palestinian Authority, an arch enemy of Hamas. (They were arrested in Jordan and turned over to Dubai). Another person wanted by Dubai for questioning returned to Damascus just prior to the killing. And then there is the question of who in Syria played a role in stripping Mabhouh of his protection just hours before his flight to Dubai.
The key missing piece in the jigsaw remains Mabhouh's mission to Dubai-apparently important enough for him to travel there without his normal contingent of bodyguards.
Mabhouh arrived from the airport at his hotel shortly before 3 pm, and after changing his clothes left for an unknown destination. He was gone for several hours. But even with its state-of-the-art surveillance cameras in Dubai, and extensive interviews with all the taxi drivers at the hotel, authorities claim they cannot determine either his whereabouts during these hours or the identity of whom he met.
The world-wide focus on the spooks-whose false identities allowed many of them to vanish in the intelligence netherworld-has diverted attention from the potentially embarrassing mission that brought Mabhouh to the Dubai. The real intrigue here is not who killed a wanted terrorist, but what he was up to.

If you look at things logically one of the most succesfull agencies in the world required 32 agents to remove one man who amazingly was with out any protection and whos travel plans had been leaked.

Or Dubai police just slapped the label assasin on everyone who was in town on the day under a false passport. Seeing no one is willing to say where he went during the missing few hours it makes you wonder if that would reveal a truth the Dubai police want to conceal.

I still think the posibility that he had sold out and Syria, Hamas or Fata or a combination wanted him gone. After all he would have been much more valuable for interogation than dead.

 

[Old School]

If you look at things logically one of the most succesfull agencies in the world required 32 agents to remove one man who amazingly was with out any protection and whos travel plans had been leaked.

Or Dubai police just slapped the label assasin on everyone who was in town on the day under a false passport. Seeing no one is willing to say where he went during the missing few hours it makes you wonder if that would reveal a truth the Dubai police want to conceal.

I still think the posibility that he had sold out and Syria, Hamas or Fata or a combination wanted him gone. After all he would have been much more valuable for interogation than dead.

There is more to this story. I have good reason to believe that Iranians scored double point by killing him and get Mossad in to trouble at the same time. I know how the Iranians work.