UK expels Israeli diplomat over Dubai slaying case

[s90]

The UK is to expel an Israeli diplomat over the use of twelve cloned British passports in a Dubai murder, the BBC has learned.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband will make a statement to Parliament later.

Israel has said there is no proof that its agents were behind the killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a Dubai hotel room in January.

Diplomatic sources stressed the British government has stopped short of accusing Israel of the murder.

However Mr Miliband had demanded that Israel co-operate fully with the investigation into how the passports were obtained.

The foreign secretary is to make the statement after Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency found proof of the cloned passports, said BBC correspondent Jeremy Bowen.

BBC News - Britain expels Israeli diplomat over Dubai passport row

 

[FireFighter]

Watch Video here: Britain expels Israeli diplomat over 'intolerable' actions of Mossad - contains video

Britain has expelled Mossad’s chief representative in London after a criminal investigation blamed the Israeli spy agency for the cloning of British passports used in the assassination of a senior Hamas operative in Dubai.

The diplomat's expulsion was announced in a statement to Parliament by David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, who said that Israel's "intolerable" misuse of British passports had shown a "profound disregard" for the UK's sovereignty.

"The fact that this was done by a country which is a friend, with significant diplomatic, cultural, business and personal ties to the UK, only adds insult to injury," Mr Miliband said.

"No country or government could stand by in such a situation," he added. "I have asked that a member of the Embassy of Israel be withdrawn from the UK as a result of this affair and this is taking place."
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The 12 passports were among at least 26 forged European and Australian identity documents used by the members of an Israeli hit squad which murdered the Hamas armourer Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a Dubai hotel on January 19.

Mr Miliband said that an investigation carried out by the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (Soca), which sent officers both to Dubai and Israel, had shown that the owners of the passports had been the unwitting and innocent victims of official identity fraud.

"Given that this was a very sophisticated operation, in which high-quality forgeries were made, the Government judges it is highly likely that the forgeries were made by a state intelligence service," he said.

"Taking this together with other inquiries, and the link with Israel established by Soca, we have concluded that there are compelling reasons to believe that Israel was responsible for the misuse of the British passports.

"The Government takes this matter extremely seriously. Such misuse of British passports is intolerable ... I have asked that a member of the embassy of Israel be withdrawn, and this is taking place."

Mr Miliband did not identify the expelled diplomat nor identify them as an intelligence officer, but sources told The Times that the senior Mossad representative at the Israeli Embassy had been told to leave.

Israel said it regretted the British move. “The relationship between Israel and Britain is mutually important. We therefore regret the British decision,” said Yigal Palmor, the spokesman for the Foreign Ministry.

While the Government was measured in its response to the new diplomatic crisis erupting with the UK, MPs from the far right were quick to denounce the British as “dogs” who were not to be trusted.

 

[ajpirzada]

UK expels Israeli diplomat over Dubai slaying case
Updated at: 2129 PST, Tuesday, March 23, 2010
LONDON: Britain has expelled an Israeli diplomat over the alleged use of forged U.K. passports in the assassination of a Hamas operative in a suspected Mossad hit.

Israel said it was disappointed but vowed to strengthen its relationship with Britain.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband told lawmakers on Tuesday that the Israeli diplomat, who has not been named, was removed from London following an investigation into the use of 12 fake U.K. passports in the Jan 20 slaying in Dubai.

He says a British investigation found “compelling reasons to believe that Israel was responsible” for the forged passports.

Israel's ambassador to Britain, Ron Prosor, said Israel was “disappointed by the decision of the British government” but affirmed his commitment to a relationship ``of mutual importance.''

UK expels Israeli diplomat over Dubai slaying case - GEO.tv

 

[WhiteKnight1]

Israel is not above the law.

 

[Peregrine]

Hi,
Its about time that a prominent country from the West has realized that what sort of sinister stunts Israel can pull to implicate its friends to achieve its goals, Israel is a snake in grass. Too bad these stupid western Governments still wont realize this.

 

[H2O3C4Nitrogen]

haha .. i like they cover things up .. they wanted to kill a guy and they killed him and still they go free ..great

 

[s90]

 

[pak-marine]

hipocracy at its full ... They killed the guy now we expel the diplomat , dont understand this western play