Wellington, May 7 NZPA - An Israeli sought by New Zealand authorities after he allegedly stole the identity of a tetraplegic Aucklander has been named by Dubai police as a new suspect in the killing of a Hamas operative in a Dubai hotel in January, the New York Times reports.

The latest five suspects -- reported to have carried passports from Britain, Australia and France -- bring the total number to 32, a person familiar with the investigation said.

Israel's intelligence service, the Mossad, is widely believed to have ordered the killing.

Dubai police released extraordinary security video of the killers in February, along with their passport information, which in many cases was obtained fraudulently from dual citizens living in Israel.

The suspects can be seen on the videotape disguising themselves as tourists, and following the Hamas operative, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, to his hotel room.

The New Zealand connection has been named as Zev William Barkan, who tried to obtain a passport using a birth certificate in the name of a tetraplegic with cerebral palsy..

Barkan, then 37 fled to Israel after the April 2004 arrest in New Zealand of his associates Uriel Zoshe Kelman, 30, and Eli Cara, 50.

Police also sought a fourth person.

Barkan, who has not yet been caught for his involvement in the passport plot, spent time in New Zealand plotting with Kelman and Cara, then left for Sydney, police said.

But he remained in contact with the pair and kept his New Zealand cellphone active to take calls from Internal Affairs and the travel company he had contacted to arrange a passport.

Helen Clark, who was prime minister at the time, said there was no doubt the men were Mossad operatives and suspended high-level diplomatic relations for more than a year until Israel apologised in 2005.

A new Israeli ambassador, Shemi Tzur, was named last November, and the embassy has just reopened in Wellington.

In March, an investigation by Britain's Serious and Organized Crime Squad found that the Mossad provided members of an assassination team with forged British passports.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement in Mabhouh's assassination, but Britain has refused to allow the Mossad to send a new representative to Israel's embassy in London unless Israel's Foreign Ministry signs a commitment not to forge British passports in future operations.