Al Mabhouh suffocated: police

Murdered Hamas agent Mahmoud al Mabhouh was suffocated, according to forensic tests released by Dubai Police.

Murdered Hamas agent Mahmoud al Mabhouh was suffocated, according to forensic tests released this afternoon by Dubai Police. And "substantial" quantities of the drug succinylcholine were found in his body during post mortem examinations, the tests showed. The drug is usually used to relax a patient's muscles during surgery or when using a breathing machine (ventilator). It is also used to induce anaesthesia. A police spokesman said the drug was normally hard to trace, but had been administered in such quantities that made it possible to detect. Al Mabhouh was found dead in his hotel room at the Al Bustan Rotana in Dubai in January 20. Israeli secret service Mossad has been implicated in the death.