Pressure mounted on Israel yesterday as Australia became the latest country seeking answers over the use of Western passports in the Dubai killing of a top Hamas militant by suspected Mossad agents.
Australia summoned the Israeli ambassador to discuss the latest development in the investigation into the killing, which Dubai’s police chief has said was most likely carried out by agents of the Israeli intelligence service.
Australia “will not be silent on the matter,” Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said after three Australian passport-holders were named among 15 new suspects linked to last month’s Cold War-style killing of Mahmud al-Mabbouh.
“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.”
A statement on Monday from Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said there was no evidence to link Israel to the killing of Mabbouh, who was found dead at a luxury Dubai hotel on Jan. 20.
The country’s envoys, however, have already been called in over the affair by four European countries — Britain, France, Germany and Ireland — because of the use of such passports seemingly issued by these countries.
In many cases, the documents appeared either to have been faked or obtained illegally.
Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith, who summoned Israeli Ambassador Yuval Rotem for an explanation yesterday, said initial investigations showed the Australian passports were probably “duplicated or altered.”
They had not yet reached any conclusions, Smith said.
“But 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 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 said.
The other 15 new suspects being sought are six British, three French and three Irish passport-holders, Dubai investigators said in a statement.
Wednesday’s announcement by Dubai police brought the total number of people being sought to 26. All had used Western passports.
In addition to the Western suspects, three Palestinians are being questioned over the killing, Al-Ittihad newspaper reported yesterday, citing a police source.
Dubai police have previously announced that they have in custody two Palestinians, who were deported from Jordan.
“The source confirmed that one of those [previously detained] Palestinians has been proven to have been involved in Mabbouh’s killing,” Al-Ittihad said.
The scale of the operation as detailed by Dubai police has raised eyebrows in Israel.
“It is hard to believe that, if Mossad ... carried out the operation, the planners were so irresponsible as to dispatch nearly 30 agents and to expose an entire select operational unit on one assassination operation,” said Yossi Melman, security correspondent for Israel’s Haaretz newspaper. “Either the new revelations are another salvo in Dubai’s psychological warfare or the police investigators are groping in the dark.”
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