Three 'Irish' suspects in Hamas hit

By: The Yank | Published Monday, February 15, 2010, 6:30 PM | Updated Friday, September 9, 2011, 9:30 PM

Do you know these people?

No? Me neither. Nor, I'm willing to bet, does anyone in Ireland.

These three are among the 11 suspects that the United Arab Emirates believes were behind the recent killing of Hamas big-wig Mahmoud Al Mabhouh in Dubai. The three 'Irish' suspects are named as (from left to right): Gail Folliard, Kevin Daveron and Evan Dennings.

Today the Chief of Dubai Police produced those pictures above along with those names. The passport numbers don't even look right, but maybe the Dubai police have held back some of the details.

All Irish passport numbers have at least one letter and based on the partial green harp in the upper left corner, those passports are all in the 'old style', which means one leading letter is missing from the number. (I think. I'm not an expert on Irish passports, other than those in the house.)

Whatever. I really doubt any of those three is Irish. I also doubt the Irish government will be deploying the forces of law and order to hunt them down, but whether these three were using stolen Irish passports or forgeries will be of interest to the Irish government.

The UAE authorities say they "know where they are right now and even their residences." Maybe I'm wrong, maybe all three are living in Mayo and maybe members of Ireland's national police force are on their way to arrest them right now. Maybe, but I doubt it.