Tamim murder: Dubai won't seek suspects' extradition

Dubai: Dubai Police will not seek extradition of a former Egyptian police officer who is in custody for allegedly killing the Lebanese singer Suzan Tamim in Dubai, officials said on Thursday.

The announcement in Dubai came days after Egyptian police on Tuesday said they have arrested billionaire Hisham Talaat Mustafa in Cairo for the murder of Tamim who was found dead in her apartment at Jumeirah Beach Residence on July 28.

A statement by Abdul Majid Mahmoud, an Egyptian prosecutor, said Mustafa hired ex-cop Mohsen Munir Al Sukari, 39, to kill Tamim for $2 million.

Tamim was found dead on July 28 at her flat on the 22nd floor flat (Number 2204) of Jumeirah Beach Residence’s Rimal Tower 1.

Dubai Police Chief Gen Lieutenant Dahi Khalfan Tamim on Thursday said: “There will be no extradition of the suspect in Tamim murder because we trust the Egyptian authorities.”

There is an agreement between the UAE and Egypt to co-operate on security issues but without extraditing the suspects.

The police chief said that the UAE does not have an extradition treaty with Cairo but Egyptian authorities had co-operated with the investigation and he had complete faith in their judicial system, praising its “credibility, transparency and integrity”.

Giving examples of how the two countries are collaborating on the case, Tamim said: “Once the suspect confessed about the crime to the Egyptian prosecution they informed us immediately.” They also named the man who hired him to kill the singer.

Khalfan said: “Although the victim is from Lebanon, the suspect from Egypt and the crime happened in Dubai, due to mutual understanding and collaboration between them I feel as if we belong to one country.”

Dubai Police had handed over forensic evidence to Egyptian police who found the suspect by matching this evidence with their database.

According to Arab and Egyptian media, Al Sukari admitted to investigators that Mustafa hired him to kill Tamim for $2 million after the young Lebanese singer broke up with the Egyptian tycoon.

Sources said the Egyptian police found $300,000 in Al Sukari’s bank account and the rest was found hidden in a large cooker in his apartment in Sharm Al Shaikh.

Hisham’s company, Talaat Mustafa Group, is one of the biggest and most successful property developers in Egypt.
More details emerge

A few hours after the murder was discovered, Dubai police identified Al Sukari as the suspect, who immediately fled the country.

Earlier on July 26, the Egyptian suspect came to Dubai and stayed in a hotel. On July 28, he entered Tamim’s building before 9am and went to her apartment 2204 with a knife.

The CCTV footage showed him wearing a cap and holding an envelope in front of the door’s peep hole. The suspect gained access by pretending to be a representative of the company which owns the building, bringing a present and a letter of thanks from the company.

She opened the door and while she was trying to open the envelope, the suspect pushed her to the ground and cut her throat from “vein to vein”, police sources said.

The police found the empty envelope besides her body. Later, the police found the clothes the suspect was wearing inside the fire box, a floor below in the same building. Among the clothes the police found a piece of paper with Al Sukari’s finger prints.

After committing the murder, the suspect went back to his hotel, collected his belongings and rushed to Dubai airport.

It also emerged that before leaving Dubai, Al Sukari made a call to Talaat Mustafa from his mobile phone. Al Sukari recorded that conversation on his mobile. The recording is now with the Egyptian police, the police said.