Members of a cell responsible for the assassination of senior Hamas operative Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai were carrying Irish passports, Ireland's Evening Herald reported, citing police sources.
 
Al-Mabhouh's death has been attributed in reports to both strangulation and poisoning. He was responsible for the capture and murder of two Israeli occupation soldiers.
 
The police sources cited by the Herald say the group of assassins, who are assumed to be Israeli, included at least one woman and entered the United Arab Emirates under the guise of Irish documents.
 
A Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman told the Herald, "We are aware of the media reports and we are in contact with authorities locally to try and determine the truth of the reports."
 
Police in Dubai say at least seven people were involved in the assassination, among them four who used Irish passports and fled to a "European country", according to the Herald.
 
The report adds that security sources in the emirate say al-Mabhouh was absent from his room until 9 pm on the day of the murder.
 
On Thursday police in Dubai said they would be issuing an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should it turn out that the Mossad was behind the assassination.
 
A senior police official told the al-Jazeera network that Dubai would arrest Netanyahu "because of the fact that he was the one to approve the execution of the crime in the United Arab Emirates."
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