Some of the suspects wanted in connection with the assassination last month of a top Hamas official bought their flight tickets to Dubai with credit cards issued in the same names as their fake passports, a leading English daily of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) reported Saturday.

"The credit cards were not used in the UAE," The National quoted a Dubai police source as saying.

"But the suspects bought the tickets to Dubai with credit cards. The credit cards used bear the same names as the passports which the suspects entered Dubai with," the source said, adding that the police had strong evidence connected to the credit cards and communication tools used by the suspects.

The official did not reveal in which of the suspects' names the cards were issued, or in which country, according to the newspaper.

It is the first time the Dubai police have claimed the passports were used for anything other than gaining entry to the UAE, the report said.

It said the issuing of credit cards raises new questions over the extent of the identity fraud.

On Monday, Dubai police chief Dahi Khalfan Tamim said 11 Europeans are suspected to have been involved in the killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a senior commander of Hamas military wing the Ezzedeen Al Qassam Brigades.

He said the suspects include six Britons, one French, one German and three Irish nationals, including a woman. However, all of those identities have since turned out to be fraudulently obtained.

Al-Mabhouh, 50, was born in the Gaza Strip but has been living in Syria since 1989. He was found dead in his hotel room on Jan. 20, a day after he arrived in Dubai.

The Hamas official was wanted by the Israeli government in connection with the kidnappings of two Israeli soldiers in 1989. Hamas has accused Mossad, Israel's secret agency responsible for foreign intelligence, of carrying out the assassination.

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