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.
Army Radio reported on Monday afternoon that the suspects had fled to a third country. In a cooperative Gulf State operation, they were arrested in that country and extradited to Abu Dhabi.
The Emirati statement added that the three suspects have already undergone initial interrogations but did not provide any details revealed in the probe. It is estimated that the Emirati government will seek the death penalty for the suspects.
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.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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9 Responses
Keep these 3 wicked savage murderers blindfolded & handcuffed for the rest of their lives [i.e. don’t even remove handcuffs nor blindfolding neither during mealtime nor bathroom breaks]
If this information is true, why cover up their identities. Show their faces and names. The yehudim have a right to know who is killing off their people.
Heng zich heng zich heng zich
I know many uzbeks live in Brooklyn I hope they are not connected to this plot and are peace loving
What irony… if 3 Muslims murder a Jew in this Arab country, they’ll get the death penalty, whereas if they were to murder a Jew in Israel, they’d get to live out the rest of their lives.
Don’tMindMe, you very much hit the nail on the head.
I’d like to see a noose around their necks and leave them standing until they hang themselves!
Puzzling. Initial news reported that his killers “were believed to have escaped to Turkey.” So are these 3 patsies to be used for public relations?
Logicyid , that was the initial report, they ended up catching them and extraditing those piece’s of trash