UAE thanks Türkiye for arresting suspects accused of killing rabbi
An Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Rabbi speaks beside the coffin of murdered Rabbi Zvi Kogan as rain falls during his funeral ceremony, in Kfar Chabad, near Tel Aviv, Israel, Nov. 25, 2024. (EPA Photo)


The Foreign Ministry of the United Arab Emirates thanked Türkiye for arresting and extraditing suspects accused of killing an Israeli rabbi in the Emirates.

In a statement carried by the state news agency, the ministry thanked Turkish authorities for "their cooperation in arresting the perpetrators," without providing further details.

The three suspects were caught in Istanbul in a secret operation at the weekend by the Turkish intelligence and police, a Turkish security source said on Tuesday.

Emirati authorities have said they arrested three Uzbek men for the suspected murder of Zvi Kogan, a 28-year-old rabbi who had been living in the UAE and was also a Moldovan national.

The circumstances of Kogan's death have not been disclosed and it is unclear if Emirati authorities have established a motive or where the three suspects were when they were arrested.

Israeli officials have said Kogan was targeted because he was Jewish and branded his killing as an anti-Semitic attack. Israeli agencies are assisting in the investigation.

Kogan had been living in the UAE for several years and had been involved in outreach to the country's Jewish community. He was reported missing on Thursday and his body was discovered on Sunday.

Uzbek officials have said the Tashkent government was assisting the Emirati and Israeli authorities in the investigation.

Two of the detained suspects are aged 28 and a third is 33. The three suspects have been shown blindfolded and in restraints in images released by the UAE interior ministry.