Ireland under pressure to follow UK and expel Israeli diplomat
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
London, March 24, IRNA -- Ireland’s government is under growing pressure to act against Israel over the use of forged Irish passports in the assassination of a Hamas official in Dubai following the decision by Britain to expel a Mossad agent.
But according to the Irish Times Wednesday, the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin says that its investigation has yet to finish.
The Irish investigation also differs from the British one in that the Irish passports used were forged, whereas the British passports were cloned copies of genuine documents held by British citizens living, mostly, in Israel.
French judicial authorities are also investigating the use of forged French passports in January’s assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.
Speaking in the British parliament on Tuesday, Foreign Secretary David Miliband reported that the country’s Serious and Organised Agency had found “compelling reasons” to believe that Israel was responsible for the misuse of British passports.
“It represents a profound disregard for the sovereignty of the UK. The fact that that was done by a country that is a friend, with significant diplomatic, cultural, business and personal ties to the UK, only adds insult to injury,” Miliband said.
“No country or Government could stand by in such a situation,” he said when announcing that an unnamed Israeli diplomat, believed to be head of the Mossad office in London, was being expelled.
Miliband also said that travel advice was being altered to warn Britons not to hand over their passports to Israeli officials when visiting Israel unless it was absolutely necessary.
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End News / IRNA / News Code 1023423
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