UAE: “These Are The Murderers Of Rabbi Tzvi Kogan, H’YD

The United Arab Emirates on Monday released photos and the names of the three suspects in the murder of Rabbi Tzvi Kogan, H’yd.

The photos show the suspects bound and blindfolded and identified them as Makhmudjon Abdurahim, 28; Azizi Kamlovich, 33; and Olimpi Tohirovich, 28.

The Emirati Interior Ministry said that all three suspects, who were arrested in the country on Sunday, are Uzbek nationals. Although initial Israeli reports estimated that an Iranian terror cell that commonly recruits Uzbek nationals to target Jews and Israelis was responsible for Rabbi Kogan’s murder, Israeli media outlets reported on Monday that security officials now estimate that Iran was not behind the murder.

The Emirati statement added that the three suspects have already undergone initial interrogations but did not provide any details revealed in the probe.

The statement [written in Arabic] did not mention Rabbi Kogan’s Jewish or Israeli identities, referring to him only as “the Moldovan resident Zvi Kogan.” [Rabbi Kogan, H’yd, held Israeli and Moldovan citizenship. The UAE said that he entered the country with his Moldovan passport.]

In contrast, a statement issued by Emirati Ambassador to the US Yousef Al Otaiba said that the UAE mourns for “Rabbi Zvi Kogan,” and emphasized that the UAE “welcomes everyone” and “embraces peaceful coexistence and rejects extremism and fanaticism of every kind.” However, the statement also did not mention Rabbi Kogan’s Israeli roots.

Maariv reported on Monday morning that the three suspects arrested by Emirati authorities on Sunday are members of the main cell that carried out the abduction and murder.

The report quoted a security source as saying that the local police in the Emirates “acted with determination and commendable professionalism. Approximately 24 hours after the complaint was received, the investigators managed to trace the terrorists and successfully located the vehicle and then the body.”

However, initial reports about the incident on Motzei Shabbos said that Israeli security officials were furious with their Emirati counterparts as they failed to act after the incident was reported to the police in Dubai and Abu Dhabi on Thursday and only took action after the intervention of Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.