EUROPEAN FOREIGN ministers condemned the “fraudulent” use of Irish and other EU passports by the alleged killers of Hamas operative Mahmoud al-Mabhouh as Israel’s foreign minister claimed no knowledge of the affair.
The joint EU statement, which called on all countries to co-operate with an investigation by the Dubai authorities, made no reference to Israel.
The passport numbers of five Irish citizens were used in bogus passports used by the alleged killers, who also used six fake British passports and one each from France and Germany.
At meeting in Brussels with his Israeli counterpart Avigdor Lieberman, Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin criticised the “abuse” of Irish citizens’ passports.
The Minister said Mr Lieberman, who also serves as deputy prime minister, had “no information whatsoever” about the situation.
Asked whether that was satisfactory, Mr Martin said the Government wants assurances that agents of the Israeli state were not involved.
“During that meeting I articulated Ireland’s grave concern about the fraudulent use of passport material in the killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai.
“We articulated the degree to which we are concerned about the security of our citizens being put at risk by anybody who would so fraudulently abuse our passport material in that regard. And also, of course, it violates the integrity of our passport system.”
A source briefed on the engagements between EU diplomats said there was a “difference of opinion” between small and large member states over the strength of the joint statement, adding that the view was taken that Europe “should not point the finger” while investigations were ongoing.
Separately, a source close to Spain’s rotating presidency of the EU said: “It was questionable to refer to Israel, considering the fact that Israel has denied any wrongdoing.”
Although Israeli newspaper Haaretz suggested Ireland sought an explicit reference to Israel in the joint-EU statement, an Irish source said the Government did not seek a specific reference to the country.
“The Minister is very pleased that the issue was discussed by foreign ministers today and pleased that there was a lot of agreement between member states that was set out in the statement,” said a spokeswoman.
The EU statement, read to reporters by foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, condemned the killing and said it “cannot be conducive” to peace and stability in the Middle East.
“In reply to Foreign Minister Martin’s query regarding the death of the terrorist Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, Foreign Minister Liberman stated that no report links Israel to the incident,” Mr Lieberman’s office said.
“The Foreign Minister added that if alternate information, beyond media reports, would emerge, then Israel would respond. However, as no such further information has been presented, there is no need to relate to the matter.”
Meanwhile in Paris, President Nicolas Sarkozy strongly condemned the assassination of the Hamas official in Dubai and suggested such “executions” could only strain tensions further.
Speaking after a meeting with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, Mr Sarkozy said he had conveyed to the UAE’s foreign minister France’s “irrevocable condemnation of what is nothing less than an assassination”.
“I want to repeat it unambiguously,” he said. “France condemns all executions. This is not the way to go about things and nothing can justify these methods.”
The French president noted that the Israeli embassy’s chargé d’affaires in Paris was called to the foreign ministry to discuss the use of a fake French passport as part of the Dubai operation, but stopped short of linking the assassination to Israel.