The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is bent on pursuing the assassins of a top Hamas official in Dubai "in a lawful and organized manner," Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan said Tuesday.

"We will hunt those individuals in a lawful and organized manner to demonstrate that the UAE is a state of law and respect," Sheikh Abdullah was quoted by the state news agency WAM as saying.

He made the remarks when answering questions on reciprocal visa requirements during a session of the Federal National Council, the UAE's legislative body, according to WAM.

"The UAE respects the sovereignty of other states and adheres to the principle of noninterference in the internal affairs of other states. Therefore, other states have to do the same," Sheikh Abdullah said.

Any individuals or countries are not allowed to carry out unlawful acts on UAE soil, he said, adding that the Gulf nation will "pursue and bring to account whoever is tempted to do that."

Mahmoud Al Mabhouh, a senior commander of Hamas military wing, the Ezzedeen Al Qassam Brigades, was found dead in his hotel room on Jan. 20, a day after he arrived in Dubai. He was wanted by the Israeli government in connection with the kidnappings of two Israeli soldiers in 1989.

Dubai police said they are virtually certain that Israel's secret intelligence agency Mossad was behind the assassination in a complex operation that involved false Western passports, but Israel has said there was no hard proof that it carried out the killing.

Dubai has so far named 27 suspects in the murder and issued international arrest warrants for them.