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International News Title: Israel Fears Further Mossad Expulsions Over Forged Passport There were growing fears in Israel yesterday that other countries whose passports were forged for use in the Dubai assassination of a Hamas militant could follow Britain’s lead and expel suspected Mossad operatives. The killers of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, one of the founders of the Palestinian group’s armed wing and its suspected liaison for arms shipments from Iran, used forged British, Australian, French, German and Irish passports to gain access to their target in a Dubai hotel in January. “We take this matter very seriously. But we will take it in a sensible, methodical approach,” Stephen Smith, the Australian Foreign Minister, said. “Obviously we’ll take into account what other countries have done, and the United Kingdom is not the only country caught up in this. Regrettably, there’s also France, Ireland and Germany.” He said that David Miliband, the British Foreign Secretary who ordered the expulsion of an Israeli diplomat over the cloning of British passports used in the hit, had offered him the report by the Serious and Organised Crime Agency. The Australian police are still investigating the forgery of the four Australian passports used in the killing. Mr Smith did not say when the inquiry would end or what measures his Government might take. Israel has taken no retaliatory measures against Britain’s diplomats in the hope that the crisis will blow over. There were also concerns that the row could jeopardise the intelligence cooperation that the countries enjoy and that expulsions of Mossad operatives could compromise the spy agency. “There is further concern that the severe step taken by the British Government could negatively impact its security ties with Israel and the particularly close co-operation between the two intelligence organisations, the Mossad and Britain’s MI6,” said Ben Caspit, a commentator for Maariv newspaper. “This could cause heavy intelligence and operational damage to Israel and the Mossad, and leave the Israeli intelligence organisation exposed on many fronts — both in terms of its operational options and in terms of its methods of operation and the extent of the intelligence that was shared with foreign organisations,” he said. However, many others believe that Mossad and MI6 have too many common interests in fighting international terrorism to allow the passport affair to compromise national security. “The United Kingdom is a target for terrorists, and I think the co-operation is of crucial importance to both sides,” said Yehuda Ben-Meir, a former MP and an analyst at Tel Aviv’s Institute for National Security Studies. Moshe Maor, an expert of British-Israeli ties at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, said that the British actions had more to do with the upcoming elections than intelligence work. “In an electoral situation in which the two main parties are running very nearly even, the importance of every vote carries great importance. There is a desire to satisfy those who have previously abandoned Labour, such as the far Left. In actuality, what we have here is an attempt to score points in the media and not a case of concrete damage to bilateral relations,” he said.
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#1. To: Brian S (#0)
One thing I have always admired about the British is that they don't fuck around with "diplomats" who fuck around.
Day 31 of Packrat refusing to register here. Day 29 of Boofer The One Eyed Wonder Bot refusing to answer: When is Blackwell going to have the recount? Jan 30, 2006 ... by saveliberty (Proud to be Head Snowflake, Bushbot...
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