UK police in Israel to interview stolen passport holders
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
London, March 1, IRNA -- Police from Britain’s Serious Organised Crime Agency arrived in Israel Monday to interview dual British-Israeli nationals whose passport identities were used by the assassins of a Hamas official in Dubai.
Authorities in Dubai have said they are "99% certain" that Israeli Mossad agents were behind January’s assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh and have identified 26 people, who are said to have used fake passports of British, Irish, French, Australian and German citizens.
But SOCA said that they were arranging to speak to the genuine British passport holders “as potential witnesses to a crime” and the interview would take place at the UK embassy.
Israeli authorities, who have denied Mossad’s involvement, were said to have been informed about the interviews but had “no issue” with the meetings taking place.
British MPs have condemned Israel’s “arrogant attitude of impunity” over the assassination, describing Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's response to the concerns raised by the UK and EU “contemptuous.”
“The arrogant attitude of impunity and disdain now displayed by Israeli representatives is the reward for the UK Government's serial failure to take a stand against continuous Israeli transgressions,” said former SDLP leader Mark Durkan.
The record of transgressions included not only in Lebanon, Gaza, the West Bank but the “ongoing subjugation of Palestinians through abrogation of humanitarian standards and violation of human rights,” Durkan said in an Early Motion in parliament last week.
The passports used in the assassination included as many as 12 British, six Irish, three French, one German and three Australians that are presumed to have been stolen.
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End News / IRNA / News Code 988345
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