Israel 'Summoned' Over Passports

The use of fake passports by the alleged killers of a Hamas commander in Dubai has provoked a diplomatic storm today.

Ireland's foreign minister, Micheal Martin said he was still trying to determine whether the three passports had been lost or stolen recently.

Dubai police believe 11 "agents with European passports" killed Palestinian militant Mahmoud al-Mabhouh there in January.

Now, Israel's ambassador to the Republic of Ireland, Zion Evroni, has received a summons from the Dublin Department of Foreign Affairs and will be meeting Minister Michael Martin later today.

Mr Martin said: "Our passport is widely regarded and respected throughout the world as being of the highest quality. We have invested very heavily in extra security features so that our citizens can travel in safety.

"Actions, which endanger our well earned reputation in this area, have the potential to affect the security of all our citizens travelling overseas. I am determined to maintain the good name of Irish passports," he said.

The UK has also summoned Israel's ambassador to clarify what London called an "identity theft" in which the passports of six British Israelis were used by assassins.

A hit squad that killed senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a Dubai hotel room in January apparently forged travel documents bearing the names of the Britons, who all live in Israel.

However, Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor is expected merely to listen to London's position, rather than offer an Israeli response in his meeting with British Foreign Office Under Secretary Peter Ricketts.

Although Jerusalem has not taken responsibility for the January 20 hit on Mabhouh, the incident seems to have spawned a serious diplomatic rift between Israel and the United Kingdom.

In Jerusalem, Foreign Ministry officials declined to comment on the matter, but an Israeli diplomat said on condition of anonymity that the government has decided to withhold a public statement until the British message is received, and would then choose how to respond.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown promised on Wednesday that his government would launch an inquiry into the use of the British passports in the operation, but did not cast blame over the alleged forgeries.

"The defrauding of British passports is a very serious issue," a statement from the Foreign Office released Wednesday read. "The government will continue to take all the action that is necessary to protect British nationals from identity fraud."

"The government is involved in a number of strands of ongoing activity in relation to this specific case," the statement said. It cited three specific areas of activity: offering bureaucratic assistance to the affected British citizens living in Israel, investigating the matter fully and summoning the Israeli ambassador for clarification.

"The Serious Organised Crime Agency will lead this investigation, in close cooperation with the Emirati authorities," the Foreign Office said.

Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs released a statement indicating, "the identities of the persons recorded on the forged passports do not correspond to those recorded on the valid passports carrying the same numbers."

Mr al-Mabhouh was a founder member of the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, and was thought to be behind the kidnap and murder of two Israeli soldiers in 1989 during the first Palestinian Intifada.

The Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades have been responsible for suicide bombings and rocket attacks across Israel.

(BMcC/GK)