"He was among the preparatory group which arrived in the country and left it before the crime" was committed," Khalfan was quoted as saying in the Arabic-language daily Al-Ittihad.
Mahmud al-Mabhuh, a founder of the military wing of the Resistance Hamas movement, was found dead in his room in the Al Bustan Rotana hotel near Dubai airport on January 20.
Khalfan had received the information from the Canadian ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Al-Ittihad said without revealing the name of the suspect.
But the daily added that the arrested person was among a number of suspects for which international red notices had been issued by Interpol on behalf of the UAE. "We have no doubt that (Israel's spy agency) Mossad is behind the assassination. We are 100 percent sure" of this, Khalfan said in the report.
Twelve British, six Irish, four French, one German and three Australian passports were used by the 26 people believed linked to the murder, according to Dubai police.
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