IRISH AUTHORITIES plan to speak to their counterparts in Dubai before deciding how to act over the use of counterfeit Irish passports in the assassination of a Hamas leader in January, Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin said.
His remarks follow the British government’s decision to expel a Mossad agent from the Israeli embassy in London over what foreign secretary David Miliband called the “intolerable” forgery of British passports used in the same incident.
Mr Martin discussed the issue with his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner and Jean-David Levitte, President Nicolas Sarkozy’s diplomatic adviser, in Paris on Wednesday. “We agreed on the seriousness of the issue for our citizens, and we will continue to share knowledge and information,” he said.
French authorities confirmed this week that a judicial investigation had begun into the use of forged French passports in the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a Dubai hotel. Four suspects alleged to have been involved in the killing are believed to have travelled on fraudulent French passports.
Mr Martin said he was notified by Mr Miliband of the impending British decision last Monday. “We’ve taken note of that and we will have further engagement with the United Arab Emirates authorities before we ultimately make a decision in terms of how we intend to proceed with this,” he said.
The Irish investigation differs from the British one in that the Irish passports used in Dubai were forged, whereas the British passports were cloned copies of genuine documents held by British citizens.
Asked if the Israeli authorities were co-operating with the Irish investigation, Mr Martin said: “The Israeli authorities are saying they know nothing about this – they’re not confirming or denying anything . . . We don’t have categoric proof.
“But it’s very serious for the citizens concerned, because if they had travelled in the immediate aftermath of this, they would have been in serious jeopardy. Plus, it compromises our sovereignty and the integrity of our passport system.”
Mr Miliband said on Tuesday he had concluded that 12 British passports were cloned after they were handed over to “individuals linked to Israel, either in Israel or in other countries”.
He said it was “highly likely that the forgeries were made by a state intelligence service”.