国际英语新闻：Hamas vows to retaliate for assassination of top Hamas militant

DAMASCUS, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Hamas vowed on Friday to retaliate the assassination of its top military commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai after it blamed Israel for his death.

"We bear responsibility for his assassination and we will retaliate," Khaled Meshaal, the exiled leader of Hamas politburo, said during al-Mabhouh's funeral in Damascus.

Al-Mabhouh, one of the founders of the Islamic movement's armed wing known as Izzedein al-Qassam Brigades, died in a hotel in Dubai on Jan. 20 in suspect circumstances.

Khaled Meshaal, the exiled leader of Hamas politburo, speaks during the funeral of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, one of the founders of the Islamic movement's armed wing known as Izzedein al-Qassam Brigades, in Damascus, Syria, Jan. 29, 2010. Hamas vowed on Friday to retaliate the assassination of its top military commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai after it blamed Israel for his death

Dubai authorities said al-Mabhouh was electrocuted and then strangled to death, adding that Dubai is chasing the murderers who are believed to be Europeans, and is working with the International Criminal Police Organization in an attempt to bring them to justice.

Earlier in the day, Islamic Hamas movement and its armed wing in Gaza accused the Israeli security intelligence of killing al- Mabhouh in Dubai.

Palestinian mourners attend the funeral of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, one of the founders of the Islamic movement's armed wing known as Izzedein al-Qassam Brigades, in Damascus, Syria, Jan. 29, 2010. Hamas vowed on Friday to retaliate the assassination of its top military commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai after it blamed Israel for his death

Moreover, Osama Hamdan Hamdan, Hamas representative in Lebanon, said in Damascus on Friday that "We announced the assassination nine days later because we think it was the right time to do so. We are cooperating with the Dubai police."

"Israel has not commented on the assassination but Israel usually does not speak of it until years later," he said.

Al-Mabhouh was one of the most important leaders of Hamas and has been wanted by Israel for decades, mainly for kidnapping two Israeli soldiers during the first Palestinian Intifada, or uprising.

Palestinian mourners attend the funeral of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, one of the founders of the Islamic movement's armed wing known as Izzedein al-Qassam Brigades, in Damascus, Syria, Jan. 29, 2010. Hamas vowed on Friday to retaliate the assassination of its top military commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai after it blamed Israel for his death