Via Silver Lining
{Mossad-Assassination crime of the leader Mabhouh} by Umayyah Jiha
25/02/2010 Australia summoned the Israeli ambassador on Thursday and delivered a stark warning on ties after three Australian passports were used by suspected Mossad assassins who murdered a top Hamas commander.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Australia “will not be silent on the matter” after a woman and two men, holding apparently fake Australian passports, were named among 15 new suspects in the Cold War-style killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.
“If Australian passports are being used or forged by any state, let alone for the purpose of assassination, this is of the deepest concern and we are getting to the bottom of this now,” Rudd told public broadcaster ABC. “We will not leave a single stone unturned.”
Rudd said Australian officials had worked through the night after Dubai police named Australian, British, French and Irish passport-holders among the new group of suspects.
Dubai authorities are investigating the use of at least 26 possibly fraudulent passports in connection with the Jan. 19 slaying of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a hotel room in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith summoned Israel’s ambassador and demanded his cooperation in an investigation into the use of the passports in the killing of a senior Hamas figure.
Rudd said he had discussed the latest development “at length” with Smith, describing it as “a matter of the deepest concern to Australia”. Australia’s ambassador in Tel Aviv was also seeking a meeting with Israeli officials.
“I made it crystal clear to the ambassador that if the results of that investigation cause us to come to the conclusion that the abuse of the Australian passports was in any way sponsored or condoned by Israeli officials, then Australia would not regard that as the act of a friend,” Smith told reporters.
Dubai’s police chief, Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim, has said he was nearly “100 percent” certain that Israel’s Mossad secret service masterminded the killing. Hamas also has blamed Israel and vowed revenge.
Israeli officials have a policy of not commenting on allegations about any of its spy agency’s activities.
Smith told Parliament that Dubai authorities confirmed to Australian officials Tuesday that they were investigating the use of three Australian passports in connection with the slaying, and that a preliminary investigation suggests they were fraudulently duplicated or altered.
“At this stage, Australian officials have no information to suggest that the three Australian passport holders were involved in any way, other than as victims of passport or identity fraud,” Smith said.
Smith said he met with United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah on Wednesday, and with Israel’s Ambassador to Australia, Ambassador Yuval Rotem, on Thursday morning, to reinforce Australia’s full cooperation and the seriousness of the matter.
The European Union has also voiced outrage over the use of fake passports after an earlier list of 11 people, including a woman, was released. Israeli ambassadors in four European countries have been summoned for talks.
Dubai police have outlined a 19-hour operation to kill al-Mabhouh, including clockwork precision and disguises such as fake beards, wigs and tourist garb.
They announced Wednesday that 15 new Western passport holders are now suspects in Mabhouh’s murder, bringing the total of Western suspects in the killing to 26. Five women were among the 15 new names. The suspects using foreign passports are 12 Britons, six Irish, four French, three Australian and one German.
At least seven of the 26 passports share names with people living in the Zionist entity, reinforcing widespread suspicion about Mossad involvement and bringing sharp complaints from European ambassadors about how the expertly altered passports were obtained.
Israel has sought to play down the row, maintaining there is no evidence of its involvement. It has described Dubai police’s calls for the arrest of Mossad chief Meir Dagan “baseless” and “absurd”.
Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper, quoting unnamed sources, has reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorized the mission and met members of the hit squad shortly before their departure.
3 PALESTINIANS BEING QUIZZED ON AL-MABHOUH ASSASSINATION
Citing a police source, Al-Ittihad newspaper reported Thursday that three Palestinians are being questioned over the killing of Al-Mabhoub. “The number of Palestinians being questioned in connection with the killing of (Mahmoud) al-Mabhouh has risen to three,” the newspaper cited a high-level police source as saying.
Dubai police have previously announced that they have in custody two Palestinians, who were deported from Jordan.
The source did not provide details on the detention of the third Palestinian, the newspaper said. “The source confirmed that one of those (previously-detained) Palestinians has been proven to have been involved in Mabhouh’s killing,” Al-Ittihad said.
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