Ireland expels israeli diplomat over Hamas assassination - English
DUBLIN (AP) -- Ireland announced Tuesday it's expelling an Israeli diplomat in punishment for the Mossad use of forged Irish passports to...
DUBLIN (AP) -- Ireland announced Tuesday it's expelling an Israeli diplomat in punishment for the Mossad use of forged Irish passports to assassinate a top Hamas official in Dubai.
israel has refused to confirm or deny its agents' involvement in the January slaying of Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. Dubai police said Israeli agents posing as holidaymakers in the oil-rich Arab emirate killed Mabhouh in his hotel room.
They said assassins using 32 fake passports — including eight depicting fictional Irish citizens — participated in the hit squad. The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Ireland's national police force, the Garda Siochana, launched parallel investigations, but said their appeals for information from Israel fell on deaf ears.
"The misuse of Irish passports by a state with which Ireland enjoys friendly, if sometimes frank, bilateral relations is clearly unacceptable and requires a firm response," Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said as he announced the expulsion.
Ireland's two investigations received no cooperation from the Israelis, but nevertheless reached "the inescapable conclusion that an Israeli government agency was responsible," he said.
The Israeli embassy in Dublin includes four diplomats and two security officials. Both Ireland and Israel declined to identify the official facing expulsion by name or position, but The Irish Times reported it was one of the security officials.
Martin said the official was chosen for expulsion to send a symbolic message, and the Irish investigations found no evidence that any of the embassy staff was involved in the conspiracy.
"The official concerned is not accused or suspected of any particular wrongdoing," Martin said. "The official concerned is a victim of the actions of the state they represent."
Martin condemned Israel's assassination of Mabhouh.
"Many allegations have been made against Mr. Mabhouh which, if true, would categorize him as a committed terrorist," Martin said. But Ireland "does not believe that states should fight terror with terror. As a matter of principle, Ireland opposes extra-judicial killings. We believe that states have a duty to operate according to the law and to respect that way of life that terrorists seek to destroy."
Martin's aides said this was the first time Ireland has expelled an Israeli official. It last took such action in the mid-1980s against Russian officials suspected of spying activity on behalf of the former Soviet Union.
Israel's ambassador to Ireland, Zion Evrony, said he was summoned Tuesday to the Department of Foreign Affairs to be told of the expulsion.
Earlier this month Israeli commandos seized an Irish-run vessel trying to run aid into Gaza Port. All the Irish citizens aboard, including former UN humanitarian official Denis Halliday and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire, were arrested and deported.
The Dubai assassins also used fake passports from Britain, Germany, France and Australia. British officials determined that Israeli officials stole the identities of real British citizens, but Martin said all eight Irish passports involved fake identities. He said six of the forged Irish passports used real numbers assigned to real Irish people with different names, while two others were total fabrications.
Australia expelled an Israeli diplomat May 24 after concluding that Mossad was involved in forging four Australian passports.
Britain expelled an Israeli diplomat in March after reaching the same conclusion about 12 fraudulent British passports used by the alleged assassins.
The governments of France and Germany have yet to announce conclusions of their own investigations.
Tehran Times
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Hamas Commander Mahmoud Al Mabhouh Assassination - Chronological...
Footage from CCTV cameras shows a chronological timeline of the events that took place on the day that Hamas commander Mahmoud Al Mabhouh was...
Footage from CCTV cameras shows a chronological timeline of the events that took place on the day that Hamas commander Mahmoud Al Mabhouh was assassinated.
There is no Audio. Text only.
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UK to Israel - diplomat must go - 23Mar2010 - English
The UK is expected to expel an Israeli diplomat over the use of British passports in the organised killing of a Hamas commander in Dubai, in...
The UK is expected to expel an Israeli diplomat over the use of British passports in the organised killing of a Hamas commander in Dubai, in January. It's thought British Foreign Secretary David Milliband will announce the decision to parliament later today. Dubai police suspect the Israeli secret service, Mossad, of being behind the murder. Several countries have expressed disgust at the use of cloned passports by the killers.
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CCTV of Hamas murder suspects released by Dubai police - 16Feb10 - English
Officials in Dubai said the team appeared to be a professional hit squad, probably sponsored by a foreign power.
They released CCTV footage which...
Officials in Dubai said the team appeared to be a professional hit squad, probably sponsored by a foreign power.
They released CCTV footage which they said showed some of the suspects in disguises, including wigs and false beards, in the hotel near Dubai's international airport.
The suspects allegedly trailed Mr Mabhouh when he arrived in Dubai from Syria, paid for everything in cash and used various mobile phones.
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Dubai police chief on Hamas assassination - 04Mar2010 - English
But Dahi Khalfan Tamim, the emirate's police chief in charge of the investigation, is convinced Mossad, the Israeli spy agency, sent a squad to...
But Dahi Khalfan Tamim, the emirate's police chief in charge of the investigation, is convinced Mossad, the Israeli spy agency, sent a squad to Dubai to assassinate Mabhouh.
Al Jazeera's Dan Nolan has this exlcusive interview with the man fast-becoming a hero across the Arab world for holding Israel to account.
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