March 23rd, 2010
11:45 AM ET

Miliband: Israel behind forging passports in Dubai killing

There are "compelling reasons" to believe the Israeli government was responsible for forging British passports used in a plot to kill a Hamas leader in the United Arab Emirates earlier this year, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Tuesday.

Such misuse of British passports is intolerable," Miliband said, adding that the fact that Israel was an ally of the United Kingdom "only adds insult to injury."

The passports were "copied from genuine British passports" in a "highly sophisticated operation," indicating a government was behind it, Miliband told the House of Commons.

Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency concluded that the 12 British people whose passports were cloned where "wholly innocent victims of identity
theft," the foreign secretary said.

The U.K. expelled an Israeli diplomat and changed the advice it gives its citizens about traveling to Israel as a result of the scandal, Miliband said. He did not name the diplomat or say what rank the envoy held.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said Tuesday the country "regrets the British decision."

"The relationship between Israel and Britain  is mutually important," Palmor added.

Read full CNN.com story

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Filed under: Israel • World
soundoff (7 Responses)
  1. Jessica Smith

    Israel is paying back its benefactors for helping them create Israel. People deserve to know facts. One such fact is this: An Israeli Prime minister was declared the most wanted terrorist by British after Israel was created, much like osama is wanted by U.S. today? I leave the answer for the ordinary people like me to find out.

    March 23, 2010 at 1:20 pm | Report abuse |
  2. Jaime Herndon

    Hamas is a known terrorist group. The US wouldn't bat an eye at doing whatever needs to be done to catch Bin Laden or high-ranking Al-Quaeda members, nor would any other country. These are terrorists and dangerous groups. Israel is a country the size of NJ; they did not manage to stay in a hostile environment for nothing. They do what is necessary to preserve the safety of their people and their country. Everyone could learn from them some lessons on how to deal with TERRORISTS.

    March 23, 2010 at 2:42 pm | Report abuse |
  3. Jason

    Question: Is HAMAS a terrorist group, or Freedom fighters against an oppressor?
    Answer: Depends on who you support

    March 23, 2010 at 5:03 pm | Report abuse |
  4. Yatzmach Pirkunei

    Good Riddance!
    The world should be thanking israel for doing the civilized worlds dirty work much like they did with Iran's nucleur reactor and Syria's nucleor reactor
    When are we going to learn that Israel is the only true friend America has in the middle east!!

    March 23, 2010 at 6:04 pm | Report abuse |
  5. Texan

    Hell, anyone can get a phony passport. I am willing to bet if closely checked on arrivals here in the US they would find a lot of phony passports. So much for that Homeland Security.

    March 24, 2010 at 7:46 am | Report abuse |
  6. Honest Abe

    i would like to see Israel defend itself without the United States standing behind them like a juggernaut! the rest of the middle east would crush them. i don't think they could handle Iran by themselves.

    March 24, 2010 at 1:32 pm | Report abuse |
  7. Manir

    So what if Israel kills mass murders Hamas?
    What's the big deal, isn't eliminating mass murder Islamists a good think and a life saving issue?

    March 28, 2010 at 2:28 am | Report abuse |
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