UK PRESSES ISRAEL ON DUBAI MURDER

BBC NEWS
iddle_east/8521246.stm
2010/02/18 11:28:06 GMT

The British and Irish governments have called in their Israeli
ambassadors over the use of fake passports by the alleged killers of
a Hamas commander.

Dubai police believe 11 "agents with European passports" killed
Palestinian militant Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in January. Six British
passports were fraudulent.

The Dubai police chief has said he is 99% sure Israel is involved in
the killing, according to a UAE newspaper.

Israel has said there is no proof its secret service, Mossad,
was involved.

Conservative leader David Cameron had called for the Israeli ambassador
to be asked "some pretty tough questions".

" If there was proof Israel had used British passports… relations
between the UK and Israel would be in a crisis " Jeremy Bowen

The meeting, between Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor and Sir Peter
Ricketts, head of the diplomatic service, lasted less than half
an hour.

Meanwhile Prime Minister Gordon Brown has ordered an inquiry into
the passports, which bear the names of six British-Israelis who are
not the men pictured.

In an Abu Dhabi-based English-language paper, General Dahi Khalfan
is quoted as saying: "It is 99%, if not 100% that Mossad is standing
behind the murder."

But Israel’s foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, has refused to
issue any formal denial in line with a "policy of ambiguity" on
security matters.

Israel’s ambassador to the Republic of Ireland, Zion Evroni, said
he had received a summons from the country’s Department of Foreign
Affairs and would be meeting minister Michael Martin.

Shadow foreign secretary William Hague has called on the Foreign
Office to confirm when it first knew about the fake passport claims.

The Foreign Office said it had received details of the British
passports "a few hours before the press conference", but Mr Hague
told the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme it was "entirely possible"
the government had been alerted to the alleged use in January.

"There have been reports in the Gulf, including one in the Gulf
News, right at the end of January, that the head of police in Dubai
had contacted consulates and embassies for assistance with this
investigation into the suspects," he said.

‘Crisis’

The BBC’s Middle East correspondent Jeremy Bowen said if there was
proof Israel had used British passports "for some nefarious uses of
its Mossad service – as they have in the past Canadian and New Zealand
ones", then relations between the UK and Israel would be "in a crisis".

The Serious Organised Crime Agency has confirmed photographs and
signatures on the passports used in Dubai do not match those on
passports issued by the UK.

The men whose names appeared on the passports have dual British and
Israeli citizenship.

They are Melvyn Adam Mildiner, Paul John Keeley, James Leonard Clarke,
Stephen Daniel Hodes, Michael Lawrence Barney and Jonathan Lewis
Graham. They all deny involvement in the killing.

The details of the suspects and their passport photos were released
by officials in Dubai earlier this week.

The Republic of Ireland government has said Irish passports used by
three people believed to have been involved in killing a Hamas member
had genuine numbers.

However, authorities said while the numbers were legitimate, they did
not match records for the names which had been used – Gail Folliard,
Evan Dennings and Kevin Daveron.

Its Department of Foreign Affairs said officials were urgently trying
to contact the three citizens who hold or have held passports with
these numbers.

France and Germany have also reportedly raised doubts over the
identities of two suspects who used a French and a German passport.

Mr Mabhouh was murdered in his hotel room in Dubai.

Reports have suggested he was there to buy weapons for the Palestinian
Islamist movement, Hamas.

Two Palestinian suspects were being questioned about the murder.

Police said they had "fled to Jordan" after the killing and have not
released their names.

Officials in Dubai, who have issued arrest warrants, said the team
appeared to be a professional hit squad, probably sponsored by a
foreign power.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress