Forged passports use a global security threat

DUBAI (Reuters/AFP) - The use of forged passports in the assassination of a Hamas military commander in Dubai is a global security threat, the United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister said Sunday, vowing to bring those behind the killing to justice. Dubai police say the 11 suspects in the January 19 killing of Palestinian Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh in one of the emirates luxury hotels used forged passports from Britain, France, Ireland and Germany, and were probably Israeli agents. The UAE condemned the abuse of European passports by the assassins of Alp Mabhouh, as police said some of the killers entered the country with diplomatic passports. The Dubai police chief also called for Hamas to conduct an internal investigation into the killing, pointing to a possible mole in the Palestinian Islamist movement, a theory Hamas rejected. The abuse of passports poses a global threat, affecting both countries national security as well as personal security of travellers, UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahayan was quoted as saying on state news agency WAM. We fully intend that those responsible are brought to account for their actions, he said. The report said UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Mohammed Gargash summoned European Union ambassadors on Sunday to brief them on the case and seek their continued cooperation and support in the investigation. The UAE has asked all the countries involved to build on the positive steps they are already taking to strengthen procedures preventing the abuse of passports, WAM said. The UAE is deeply concerned by the fact that passports of close allies, whose nationals currently enjoy preferential visa waivers, were illegally used to commit this crime, said a Foreign Ministry statement, carried by the official WAM news agency. Meanwhile, Dubai police chief Lt-Gen Dahi Khalfan, who said last week he was 99 per cent sure Israels notorious intelligence agency Mossad was behind the killing and would seek Interpols help to arrest its chief if there was enough evidence, said some of Mabhouhs killers used diplomatic passports to enter the country. There is information that Dubai police will not make public for the moment, especially regarding diplomatic passports used by some of Mabhouhs killers to enter Dubai, Khalfan was quoted by Al-Bayan newspaper as saying. Dubai police last week released the names and photos of 11 suspects in Mabhouhs killing who entered the UAE on European passports - six from Britain, three from Ireland, one from Germany and one from France. Khalfan said that Mabhouhs killing was no longer a local issue, but a security issue for European countries, quoted on Sunday in another Emirati daily, the Abu Dhabi-owned Al-Ittihad. Al-Ittihad said Khalfan has called for Hamas to conduct an internal investigation about the person who leaked information on Mabhouhs movements and arrival in Dubai to his killers. The source of the leak was the real killer, Khalfan was quoted as saying. Hamas, however, rejected the idea of a leak. It said on Sunday that the fact that Mabhouh was followed by agents of the Mossad does not mean that the movement (Hamas) is infiltrated. However, it did say it would investigate. According to Khalfan, two Palestinians have been arrested in Jordan and extradited to Dubai, where they are being held in connection with the murder. A Palestinian Authority security official in the West Bank said a senior Hamas member, Nehru Massud, was also suspected of involvement in the killing. Massud has denied he had a role in Mabhouhs death. Meanwhile, Israels Foreign Minister will face sharp questions from his British and Irish counterparts in Brussels on Monday over Israels alleged use of forged European passports by a team of assassins in Dubai. Avigdor Lieberman will meet Britains David Miliband and Irelands Micheal Martin on the sidelines of a European Union Foreign Ministers meeting, with Britain and Ireland wanting answers on what role Israel may have played in the faking of the passports and the killing of Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh. Irelands Martin said the issue was serious and he would be seeking an explanation when he meets Lieberman. I intend ... to underline our deep concern about the fake use of passports in Dubai and to seek reassurance and clarification on this very serious issue, Martin told the Irish Times on Friday.

ePaper - Nawaiwaqt