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Inside the Middle East
March 23, 2010
Posted: 1246 GMT

London, England (CNN) - Britain has expelled an Israeli diplomat in connection with cloned passports used by suspects in the January killing of a Hamas leader in Dubai, a British government source familiar with the situation told CNN Tuesday.

Israel's ambassador to the United Kingdom met with British Foreign Office officials on Monday, the source said.

The expelled diplomat's rank and identity were not released, and the source did not say when the diplomat was expelled.

Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a founding member of Hamas' military wing, was found dead January 20 in his Dubai hotel room. Police believe he was killed the night before, allegedly by the secretive Israeli foreign intelligence unit Mossad.

Two sources told CNN earlier this month that the number of identified suspects in al-Mabhouh's death was up to 27. Of them, 26 were carrying European or Australian passports, authorities have said.

The sources - an official familiar with the investigation and a police source - did not say which nation issued the passport used by the 27th suspect. Read full story...

Filed under: Dubai •Hamas •Israel •U.K.


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Brian   March 23rd, 2010 6:28 pm ET

My concern is that Israel is stimulating anti-Semitism and discrediting its own rights to be in the middle east. My concern is far from mine alone, it exists both in Israel and elsewhere in larger numbers than I believe are being reported. Each new abuse makes things worse.

Samantha   March 23rd, 2010 6:34 pm ET

What's wrong here...well, I hate to tell you this, but Isreal is NOT OUR ALLY!!!!!!!
An Ally is not your best buddy or whatever. An ally is a country that signs a treaty of alliance with our country. We tried years ago to make this happen and they didn't want to sign.
Allies don't operate aggressive intelligencec ops against each other. Allies don't operate huge lobbies to affect policy towards each other. Allies come to each other's mutual defense.

Regan   March 23rd, 2010 6:45 pm ET

It should be remembered that Israel and the Israelis still owes us a blood debt – for the American blood they wantonly spilled and the American lives they violently terminated in the Mediterranean sea.
We normally respond brutally to harm that befalls one of our own at the hands of foreigners. We note that those Israelis are good at remembering their blood debt and seeking those who spilled Israeli blood – for decades if not centuries.

And not to forget the ongoing insolence of the rogue state of Israel – whereby dollars of the tax-paying gentiles in USA are provocatively used to build illegal houses in Palestinian territories – totally against USA's instructions and UN resolutions! Yet USA has millions of homeless natives. Do the USA taxpayers work for the foreign state of Israel? Is that spelled in our constitution?

If Israel is our friend, then why do we need enemies?

Is Israeli our Ally because AIPAC says so.
Not the American hillbilly – who votes on details expenditures of the tax-dollars in the state capitals.

Does our constitution state that Israel MUST be our ally or that the imperial needs of Israel, the creature comforts of Israelis and the supremacist ego-trips of those foreigners shall supersede those of "We, the people"? Is funding for shelter and the happiness of foreigners more important to our lawmakers than the pursuit of happiness of more than 30 million currently starving and homeless Americans?

Were Americans asked to vote on the billions of dollars spirited off to Israel – so that these foreigners don't have to toil for their livelihood but
- laze around in houses built by the beleagured American taxpayer;
- and insult the intelligence of Americans;
- hatch bloody mischief and genocide against the Palestinians;
- and determine what new wars Americans are going to fight on their behalf?

Why are they "our allies"? And don't give us that crap about phantom ties and religious myth.

The story is that the billions of dollars the Americans throw at Israel goes into social programs. Indeed, the dollars the Israeli would spend i those social programs are thereby freed to be spent on warmongering and aggression in Palestinian lands. So indeed, USA indirectly enables and funds Israeli adventurism, aggression, crimes against humanity.

Bruce   March 23rd, 2010 6:48 pm ET

Our relationship with Israel serves no interest for the US, while in fact it actually stokes anti-US sentiment in the region. Israel subverts American security on a daily basis by way of spying, sabotage, false-flag ops, and leaking our intelligence to the highest bidder. Israel is not an ally.

m.gibson   March 23rd, 2010 6:52 pm ET

Here is another one of those subjects that be will soon be off the table with no logical, rational, fact-based discussion allowed! As we all know the Zionists think fact based rational is anti semetic.

To be honest its time to break all political relations with Israel.

Ariely   March 23rd, 2010 6:56 pm ET

What benefit has Israel as this supposed ally actually brought to us? We've allowed our Middle Eastern policy initiatives to be driven too long by certain special-interest groups with a disproportionate impact on our government. I don't understand logically how we wouldn't make more of an effort to win the hearts and minds of those who are a great risk to our nation. Try to find the middle ground with them in order to minimize the dangers they pose to us. Instead we seem to repeatedly worry about what Israelis think? WHY? Are they fighting our battles for us – literally? If anything their military efforts against the Palestinians have only done more harm to our goals than any good.

We can no longer let the fear of them screaming antisemitism dictate our foreign policy in the region. Its time we use actual strategic thinking to get the best benefit for us – even if that means not for Israel. Does this mean we do not offer them support, no, we should but that support should be tempered with the realities that its about our interests first. If they want to go it alone, have at it, lets see how they feel when we're not giving them millions in aid.

Angel   March 23rd, 2010 7:07 pm ET

Israel serves no legitimate interest for the US. Stability in the region is jeopardized by her expansionist agenda and oppressive tactics. Anti-US sentiment is stoked by our allowance of her indignant attitudes towards international law. America is seen, rightly so, as an enabler of Israeli aggression.

Israel cannot even assist us militarily in the region because Jewish troops invading an Arab state such as Iraq or Afghanistan would have dastardly consequences. Israel is nothing more than a liability. Throughout the Cold War privileged intelligence we passed along to Israel (and not UK, France, or anyone else) was routinely sold to the Soviets by our dear ally, Israel.

In 1973, Israel blackmailed the expeditious shipment of US arms to assist in the war with Egypt with the threat to use a nuclear weapon, known as the Samson Doctrine within Israel, which authorizes the use of nuclear weapons against an adversary that threatens Israeli continuity, not necessarily an enemy that has nukes itself.

Top all of this off with Israel's assault on the USS Liberty killing 34 Americans and wounding another 200 as well as decades of espionage, sabotage and false-flag operations manipulated to dislodge US-Arab relations and Israel has behaved no better than an enemy of the US.

Robert   March 23rd, 2010 7:13 pm ET

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu would do anything to protect Israel—as long as he doesn't have to believe in peace or respect international law or stop Israels crimes against humanity. How needs enemies when you have friends like Israel???

heinrich   March 23rd, 2010 9:53 pm ET

the hypocrite British made no fuzz about the passports of the terrorists who blew up buses in London

of course not, the British only know to make the world safe for peace, like Chamberlain

John A   March 24th, 2010 9:44 am ET

heinrich you miss the point, just as your laughable double University Rector does. Oh sorry you are the same people right hahahahaha

So here is the point; You rightly mention that Israel acts like terrorists by using fake passports. However official terrorists do not pretend to be allies of the west and the west does not ship 3 billion dollars of weaponry directly into the hands of official terrorists. The only difference between the rogue state of Israel and terrorists is that the west does ship arms to Israel and Israel does pay lip service to the term "ally".

But as you rightly state Britain is hypocritical as they fight a war on the official terrorists but generally support the politics of the terror state of Israel. And we all know that this news of a political expulsion will go out of the news in a week or two. Then both Israel and Britain will be back to business as usual.

Western intelligence services must be crying with laughter into their handkerchiefs. All have the proof that Israel committed another murderous assassination but they won't release the proof. But to cover their backs and to appease a real investigation they will expel an Israeli diplomat in the hope it looks like the west is not complicit in Israel's crimes. This is the true hypocrisy.

Considering all the UN resolutions Israel has broken, all the international laws it has broken, Israelis spying on the west and even its false flag attack on a the US Liberty, it is about time that the UN drew up plans for regime change in Jerusalem. After all Israel has violated more agreements and caused more wars and murder than Sadam ever did.

miriam   March 24th, 2010 3:39 pm ET

Miliband made no mention of the word "expelled".
There was a request for withdrawal. There is a difference.

All states who have intelligence agencies are familiar with the methods employed by their agents and all engage in passport cloning and missions beyond international law.

Would Israel have had the desire to see the end of this Hamas terrorist? Of course, as did many other groups and individuals.

However because Israel is ASSUMED to be behind the mission and she is a convenient scape-goat in a period of pre-election jitters, it is easy to point fingers.

But there is still no proof, just "compelling reason".
Dubai, where one cannot check-in to a hotel without submitting a passport for thorough examination, manages to produce photos of passports that happen to be clones of, although not identical to, those belonging to Israelis with dual nationality. And that is all it takes to initiate an investigation involving those Israeli citizens and come to a compelling conclusion.

The UK has proved that its moral compass is malalligned, being attracted towards appeasement of the Arab lobby and its non-democratic supporters, as well as terrorists and their sponsors rather than being attracted towards the moral, western world's efforts against those inciting and fighting for the destruction of democracy's and the worlds' freedoms.

John A   March 25th, 2010 4:10 pm ET

The killers possessed western passports forged by the Israeli government. And what does Israeli Miriam say,"However because Israel is ASSUMED to be behind the mission and she is a convenient scape-goat in a period of pre-election jitters, it is easy to point fingers".

Yes Miriam, it is easy to point fingers when the bungling thugs at Mossad have been caught red handed again.

Miriam if you think Israel is not guilty then surely you should elect
OJ Simpson as the next leader of Israel.

I guess OJ Simpson would be the perfect leader of Israel. As it doesn't matter how many times Israel gets caught with blood on its hands, they will always claim they are innocent and they are the victims of racist accusers.

Israels utter dishonesty and treachery against those who have supported them is shameful. But you have to admit Israelis really know how to stick to their lies, even when the lies becomes rediculous they just keep repeating them.

miriam   March 26th, 2010 1:19 pm ET

John A,

There is no evidence or proof, only speculation and assumption.

university rector   March 30th, 2010 1:07 pm ET

John A

there is no proof whatsoever who is behind the elimination of the terroristy in Dubai

So stop speculating, give us proof (which you nor anybody else have)

Yusil   April 8th, 2010 10:32 pm ET

miriam
Just because for the time being there is no absolute proof doesn’t make them innocent. Many criminals get away because there is no evidence that can be proven at the time. That does not make them innocent. Your play on words is not surprising but History will prove you incorrect. I’m sure you really don’t care!

miriam   April 11th, 2010 7:56 pm ET

Yusil,

Have you never heard of the western concept, "innocent until proven guilty"?

Mabhouh proved himself guilty by proudly confessing, with explicitly detailed pleasure, his murderous activities.

John A   April 12th, 2010 12:54 pm ET

Actually Mabhouh executed Israelis proven to participate in genocide against the Palestinian people. Nuremburg style justice is not a one way street you know.

Filipe   April 12th, 2010 6:15 pm ET

Yusil,

Wow-– do you live in a society where it is required to prove your innocence?

I wonder where that might be??

miriam   April 13th, 2010 1:09 pm ET

John A,

There is no genocide of the Palestinian people.

John A   April 15th, 2010 2:13 pm ET

miriam says;

"There is no genocide of the Palestinian people".

Miriam you know what you sound like;

"We didn't know, how could this of happened"

German civilians referring to the holocaust 1945

Yusil   April 16th, 2010 2:27 pm ET

In the US you actually have to prove your innocence. To the Zionists on this blog who deny everything, please check the statutes of the Patriot act as it applies to citizens. In this society you have 2 justice systems. One for the rich and one for the poor but then that is how it works also in Israel, the land of Liberté, égalité, fraternité.


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