MIDDLE EAST: Ex-Mossad agent explains possible identity theft of Israelis by Dubai hit squad responsible for assassination of Hamas operative

Record ID: 396560

  • Title: MIDDLE EAST: Ex-Mossad agent explains possible identity theft of Israelis by Dubai hit squad responsible for assassination of Hamas operative
  • Date: 17th February 2010
  • Summary: TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (FEBRUARY 16, 2010) (REUTERS) GAD SHIMRON, A FORMER MOSSAD FIELD OFFICER, SITTING IN HIS OFFICE AND TALKING TO REPORTER ONE OF SHIMRON'S BOOKS ON DESK (SOUNDBITE) (English) GAD SHIMRON, A FORMER MOSSAD FIELD OFFICER, SAYING "You can imagine that the Mossad can not operate in Dubai with Israeli passports, it's out of the question. Dubai hardly recogniz
  • Embargoed: 4th March 2010 12:00
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  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA4Z15UIZN9Y6SCTZ6PWRKPXTHK
  • Story Text: Several Israelis born in the UK expressed astonishment on Tuesday (February 16) amid reports they were involved in the assassination of a top Hamas militant in Dubai in January, saying their identities were stolen by the alleged hit squad.
    In phone conversations recorded by Reuters and Israeli TV Channels, at least four Israeli citizens whose names were mentioned in a list published by Dubai's police, denied involvement in the killing of Hamas' Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, saying they have never been to Dubai and didn't leave Israel in the past months.
    Dubai police listed 11 Europeans suspected of killing al-Mabhouh in a luxury hotel in the Gulf emirate last month. The Palestinian militant group Hamas has blamed Israel for the assassination, and Dubai police have said they could not rule out Israeli involvement. Israel has so far declined to comment.
    As the international mystery deepened, Britain and Ireland said they believed British and Irish passports which Dubai alleged were used by members of the hit squad -- whose photographs were released by the emirate -- were not real.
    Former Israeli Mossad field agent Gad Shimron explained to Reuters that in recent years it has become more difficult to provide operatives with false papers that can pass muster, saying that authentic documentation and details must be used, usually with a fake photograph only.
    "You can imagine that the Mossad can not operate in Dubai with Israeli passports, it's out of the question. Dubai hardly recognizes Israel, they still see us as half enemy. And therefore one has to operate under foreign disguise, under foreign passports. The problem is, that let's say 20 years ago, 30 years ago, you could just fake a passport, print it by yourself. Sometimes better quality than the original one, but still it's a fake. Today, in 2010 it's almost impossible because any immigration officer in Dubai airport today has (a) bigger database than Edgar Hoover had as chief of the FBI 50 years ago. Therefore the passports have to be authentic," Shimron said in Tel Aviv.
    One of the Israeli citizens mentioned in the list who spoke to Reuters over the phone, Melvyn Adam Mildiner of Beit Shemesh, near Jerusalem, said he had nothing to do with the assassination and that he was "angry, upset and scared", seeking ways to clear his name. A photo of "Melvyn Adam Mildiner" released by Dubai did not match a picture of the Israel-based Mildiner on his Twitter social networking page. Mildiner also added that his passport was not stolen and is safely in his house.
    Hit squads dispatched by Israel's Mossad spy agency have used foreign passports in the past, notably in 1997 when agents entered Jordan on Canadian passports and bungled an attempt to kill Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal with poison.
    A security source in Israel said the target, Mabhouh, played a key role in smuggling Iranian-funded arms to Islamist militants in the Gaza Strip. Hamas confirmed the information.
    Dubai said it issued international arrest warrants for all 11 suspects, who also include German and French passport holders. A government source said six other people, not yet identified, were also believed to be involved.
    In Paris, a French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said it was unable to confirm the authenticity of the passport used by one of the suspects.
    Shimron, today a writer and security analyst, also recalled the most recent publicised case linking the Mossad to foreign identity papers, when two suspected Israeli agents were jailed in New Zealand in 2005 for obtaining that country's passports illegally. Shimron added that he will not be surprised to find out that the assassination was not an Israeli mission only, as "Mr. Ahmadinejad (referring to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) and Mr. Hanieyh (referring to Hamas leader in Gaza Ismail Hanieyh)..... both of them managed to build a very large international coalition against them. And I will not be surprised to hear 20-30 years from now, when the archives will open, to read that this operation was an international operation, maybe with the backup of some western intelligence communities."
    Claims that British and Irish passport holders are among an alleged 11-man hit squad wanted in Dubai for the apparent assassination of a Hamas commander were being investigated by London and Dublin on Tuesday (February 16).
    Lieutenant General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, the city state's police chief, released the names and photos of the alleged gang members, along with their nationalities, at a press conference yesterday.
    He said they fled Dubai after killing Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in his luxury hotel room last month. It is believed that a request has been placed with Interpol for arrest warrants for the alleged gang - which comprises six British passport holders, three Irish, a French and a German national.
    The British Foreign Office said last night it was "seeking further information" following the claims. Counterparts in Dublin were likewise "awaiting clarification".
    Neither were able to confirm the nationalities or identities of those wanted by authorities in Dubai.
    Al-Mabhouh, a founder member of Hamas's military wing, died of suffocation on January 20, it is claimed. The Palestinian group has pointed the finger at Israel, blaming Mossad - the country's secret service - for carrying out the hit.
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