Gallipoli vets stay at Hamas murder site

The al-Bustan Rotana Hotel in Dubai. Photo / Supplied

Veterans travelling to Gallipoli for Anzac Day will have an overnight stop at the scene of a murder mystery - the hotel where a Hamas leader was assassinated.

The 120 veterans, students, defence personnel and journalists will spend a night at Dubai's al-Bustan Rotana Hotel on their way to Turkey for this week's Anzac Day commemorations.

Hamas military commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was killed in Room 230 of the five-star hotel in January, in an elaborate plot by a group dressed as businesspeople and tennis players and carrying fake British, Irish, French, German and Australian passports.

Mr Mabhouh was found dead - either by electric shock or suffocation - in his room.

Israel's intelligence agency, Mossad, has been blamed because of Mr Mabhouh's links to Hamas, a militant Palestinian organisation.

Britain subsequently expelled an Israeli diplomat.

The five-star hotel is usually a base for diplomats and businesspeople travelling to Dubai. The Defence Force said it was necessary to book somewhere which could hold the large contingent from New Zealand.

Prime Minister John Key, who will visit Gallipoli for the first time, will travel separately from the delegation and arrive later, as will Veteran Affairs Minister Judith Collins.

The main New Zealand group will leave on Monday to begin the journey to mark the 95th anniversary of the landing of Allied troops on the Gallipoli Peninsula - a campaign in which more than 2700 New Zealanders lost their lives.

On the trip are 22 veterans who have direct family links to the troops who fought at Gallipoli.

They include 78-year-old Eddy Marr from Hamilton, a former UN military adviser whose grandfather, James Joseph Marr, was killed during the first week of the campaign in April 1915. Another is Korean War vet George Butcher, 82, whose father fought with the British Royal Field Artillery at Gallipoli as an 18-year-old.

The delegation includes about 20 students selected after an essay contest held by Veterans' Affairs, a Maori cultural group and defence personnel.

Many of the students also have ancestors who fought in World War I.

Mr Key will speak at the Dawn Service and the New Zealand service at Chunuk Bair. He will also attend the Australian service at Lone Pine.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will not attend because of the Australian election this year.


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