CNN's Paula Hancocks says Dubai's deliberately setting up a "drip feed" of info on the assassination to keep the MSM spotlight on Israel:
The drip feed of information from Dubai’s police chief has kept the assassination of a Hamas leader in his Dubai hotel room on the front pages for about a month and a half.
Every day, without fail, the newspapers in the United Arab Emirates reserve part of the front page for an update, an opinion – even the tiniest hint of fresh information.
This is likely the intention of Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan. By releasing a tidbit here and there, the story stays alive and the international spotlight stays on Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad, which Khalfan says he is 100 percent sure is behind the hit.
In the long run, CNN adds, this "drip feed" only benefits the Mossad mystique.
So why is Dubai's top cop doing this? A few days ago, I argued that the Gulf state's ruling elites are more interested in drawing the world's attention away from its debt crisis. And videos linked to Mossad conspiracies real or imagined are the mother of all distractions.
This LA Times blog may be another indicator that the press is tiring of Tamim. An adjective like "snarky" is the tip-off:
Nearly two months after Hamas operative Mahmoud Mabhouh was found dead in his Dubai hotel room, Tamim continues to keep the story in the media by leaking new information, embarrassing details and even snarky comments about the disguises and physical condition of the alleged assassins, thought to be members of Israel's elite Mossad spy agency.
“The mistake they made was that even the disguise was primitive, the ’70s style . . . If they want a training course in disguise, we would be happy to oblige," Tamim said this past weekend of the 26 suspects seen in surveillance videos sporting fake beards and wigs.
I think "snarky" indicates that the reporter is too polite to ask the obvious question: Wouldn't the police chief's bravado be more credible if 26 27 amateuishly disguised assassins had been caught before they killed Mahmoud Mabhouh?
