DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) 鈥� Turkish security forces arrested the three Uzbek suspects in as they left an airport in Istanbul, local media reported Wednesday.
suspected of killing Israeli-Moldovan Rabbi Zvi Kogan highlights the transnational nature of the attack.
While no motive has been offered, Iran has used criminal gangs in the past to target dissidents and its enemies. Already, Tehran has threatened to retaliate against Israel as the two countries have exchanged fire during the Mideast wars 鈥� even as it has denied being involved in Kogan's killing.
Both Istanbul police and Turkey's National Intelligence Organization detained the men after determining which flight they arrived on, allowing them to leave the airport before pulling over their taxi, Turkey's H眉rriyet and Sabah newspapers reported. The men then were immediately extradited to the United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhdoms home to Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
The Emirati Foreign Ministry on Tuesday night separately thanked Turkey for 鈥渇or their cooperation in arresting the perpetrators,鈥� without elaborating.
Diplomatic relations between the UAE and Turkey over their divergent views on Islamists in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring, but improved in recent years. Turkish first lady Emine Erdogan spoke Tuesday at the Global Women鈥檚 Forum Dubai.
Meanwhile, Uzbekistan has offered its first comment on the killings in a statement acknowledging a meeting between its foreign minister and the ambassador of Israel. The statement said Uzbekistan, a tightly controlled Central Asian country, was cooperating with both Israel and the UAE in the investigation into Kogan's killing.
鈥淭he people of Uzbekistan have always maintained a friendly attitude toward all representatives of religions and backgrounds,鈥� the statement said. 鈥淯zbekistan has never tolerated and will never tolerate any form of nationalism. The meeting underscored that terrorism and extremism know no borders or nationality.鈥�
Kogan, 28, an ultra-Orthodox rabbi who went missing on Nov. 21, managed a kosher grocery store in Dubai, where Israelis have flocked for commerce and tourism since the two countries .
The agreement has held through more than a year of soaring regional tensions unleashed by . But Israel鈥檚 devastating retaliatory offensive in Gaza and its invasion of Lebanon have stoked anger among Emiratis, Arab nationals and others living in the UAE.
Iran鈥檚 Embassy in Abu Dhabi has denied Tehran was involved in the rabbi鈥檚 slaying. However, Western officials believe Iran runs intelligence operations in the UAE and keeps tabs on the hundreds of thousands of Iranians living across the country. Iranian intelligence services also have carried out past kidnappings in the UAE.
While not directly blaming Iran, Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others have referred to an 鈥渁xis of evil鈥� being responsible for Kogan's killing 鈥� a phrase Israel in the past has used to refer to Iran and its allies.
Jon Gambrell, The Associated Press
