UAE publishes prison photos of 3 suspects in murder of Israeli Rabbi

Abu Dhabi, Nov 26 (IANS) The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has published the names and photographs of three suspects responsible for the murder of Israeli Rabbi Zvi Kogan, a UAE-based Chabad emissary whose body was found late last week.

Israel has called the murder an “antisemitic” terror attack, The Times of Israel reported.

All three men are Uzbek nationals, according to the UAE Interior Ministry.

The three suspects are Olimpi Toirovich, 28; Makhmudjon Abdurakhim, 28; and Azizbek Kamlovich, 33.

The images showed the men handcuffed and blindfolded, dressed in blue prison uniforms.

The Ministry described the three as “the perpetrators of the murder of the Moldovan citizen”.

Kogan held dual Israeli-Moldovan citizenship.

The suspects could face capital punishment, according to several Israeli media reports.

Kogan, 28, who worked in the UAE for the Orthodox Jewish group Chabad, which seeks to support Jewish life for thousands of Jewish visitors and residents in the Gulf Arab state, vanished in Dubai, where he ran a kosher grocery store, on Thursday.

Kogan’s funeral was set to take place at 11 p.m. on Monday at the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, following a procession from Kfar Chabad in central Israel, set to depart at 8 p.m.

His body was found in the Emirati city of Al Ain, which borders Oman, around 150 km (93 miles) from Abu Dhabi, Israeli authorities announced early Sunday.

The Ynet news site reported early Sunday that Kogan’s car was found abandoned in Al Ain.

It added, without citing sources, that there were signs of a struggle in the vehicle, The Times of Israel reported.

Officials suspect a number of Uzbek citizens recruited by Iran assaulted the rabbi and later fled to Turkey, that report said.

The three suspects were not arrested in the UAE, a Channel 12 report said on Monday. The operation to find and arrest them spread across several countries, according to the report.

Ynet reported Monday that they were likely extradited from Turkey to the UAE, without Israeli involvement.

The UAE on Monday stressed “the determination of the competent security authorities to quickly take the necessary measures to uncover the details of the incident, its circumstances and motives, and to harness their human and professional capabilities, expertise and technical capabilities that led to the arrest of the perpetrators”.

The Emirati Interior Ministry announced on Sunday the arrests of three people involved in the killing of Kogan.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu condemned the murder on Monday.

“We mourn the tragic loss of Rabbi Zvi Kogan, a Moldovan-Israeli citizen killed in the UAE, and strongly condemn this hateful act,” she wrote on X.

“Hate has no place in our world. Our thoughts are with his family, the Jewish community, and all who grieve. We are in contact with Israel and the UAE.”

The UAE’s Ambassador to the US, Yousef Al Otaiba, said in a statement posted on X that the US “mourns for Rabbi Zvi Kogan. Our thoughts are with his family, friends, and community over his senseless death”.

His murder “was more than a crime in the UAE — it was a crime against the UAE. It was an attack on our homeland, on our values, and our vision,” Otaiba added.

After Kogan’s family filed a report about his disappearance, a UAE statement said on Sunday, an investigation was initiated, leading to arrests “in record time”.

The full findings of the investigation would be announced upon its completion, it said.

Kogan had entered the UAE on his Moldovan passport and was a resident there, said the UAE statement, which was published by the state news agency.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog condemned the killing and thanked Emirati authorities for “their swift action”. He said he trusted they “will work tirelessly to bring the perpetrators to justice”.

The White House late Sunday branded the murder a “horrific crime against all those who stand for peace, tolerance and coexistence”.

“It was an assault as well on UAE and its rejection of violent extremism across the board,” said National Security spokesperson Sean Savett in a statement.

He said the US was in contact with Emirati and Israeli authorities, offering its support, The Times of Israel reported.

The spokesperson also praised the UAE for quickly arresting several suspects and called for those responsible to be held “fully accountable”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office called the killing a “heinous antisemitic terrorist act,” adding that Israel would do everything it could to bring those responsible to justice.

Tehran said it “categorically rejects the allegations of Iran’s involvement in the murder of this individual,” Iran’s embassy in Abu Dhabi said in a statement on Sunday.

Kogan was a dual Israeli-Moldovan citizen who had reportedly served in the Israel Defense Forces’ Givati Brigade.

He had been part of the Abu Dhabi Chabad chapter since Israel normalised ties with the UAE in late 2020 under the US-brokered Abraham Accords.

Kogan’s wife Rivky is the niece of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, who was murdered along with his wife in a terror attack at the Nariman Chabad House in Mumbai in 2008.

–IANS

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