Australian passports stolen for Israeli Mossad Dubai Murder
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith says three Australians whose passports were allegedly used by suspected Mossad assassins in Dubai appear to have been the victims of identity fraud.
Dubai police have named 15 new suspects in the assassination of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, who was found dead in his hotel room last month in what police say was almost certainly an Israeli hit.
Police say three of the suspects travelled to the emirate on Australian passports in the names of Adam Marcus Korman, Joshua Daniel Bruce and Nicole Sandra McCabe.
Speaking after meeting the Israeli ambassador in Canberra today, Mr Smith said the Australian Federal Police would conduct a full investigation into how the passports had been copied or altered.
“At this stage Australian officials have no information to suggest the three Australian passport holders were involved in any way other than as victims of passport or identity fraud,” Mr Smith said.
“The Australian Government condemns in the strongest possible terms the misuse and the abuse of Australian passports.”
Mr Smith said he also told ambassador Yuval Rotem that the Australian Government expected Israeli officials to cooperate “fully and transparently” with the AFP’s investigation.
Earlier Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said he was determined to “get to the bottom” of the case.
He told AM that officials had been working on the case through the night and pledged the Government would “not let the matter rest” and that Australia “will not be silent on the matter”.
“If Australian passports are being used or forged by any state, let alone for the purpose of assassination, this is of the deepest concern and we are getting to the bottom of this now,” he said.
“We will not leave a single stone unturned.”
Asked what action the Government may take against Israel, Mr Rudd replied: “Let us establish the facts first.”
The three Australians named will be contacted by the Department of Foreign Affairs.
“This is not just a deep concern for the Australian Government, it must be therefore the deepest concern to any individual associated with this as well,” Mr Rudd said.
‘Simply unbelievable’
Mr Korman, 34, is Australian-born but lives in Tel Aviv where he sells musical instruments.
In an interview with Israeli media he has denied any involvement and says he is the victim of identity theft.
AM tried to contact him, along with a Bruce Daniel who lives near Haifa in Israel’s north, but neither was answering the phone.
But Mr Korman has told Israel’s biggest newspaper Yediot Aharonot that he is shocked over what has happened.
“It’s identity theft. Simply unbelievable,” he is quoted as saying.
“It’s a violation of human rights to do such a thing. I have travelled all over the world but never visited Dubai or the United Arab Emirates.”
Mr Korman also told the paper he was perplexed as to how he could fly to Australia again now that he is considered an international suspect.
“I have been frightened and shocked since receiving the news,” he reportedly said.
AM has confirmed that Australian Nicole Sandra McCabe also lives in Israel.
When contacted this morning, her family in Australia said they had no knowledge of her name being linked to the Dubai investigation.
Dubai police have released new information about the movements of the 26 suspects before and after the assassination.
All had apparently travelled to Dubai from one of six European cities or Hong Kong, and each left the country to various destinations, including Hong Kong and Iran, before returning to Europe where they apparently abandoned the fraudulent passports.
Many had also used credit cards issued by the same US bank.
Police also released new vision from the hotel’s security cameras showing the man named as Mr Bruce with one of the French suspects inside the hotel.
The Israeli foreign minister has said there is no proof his country carried out the killing.
Duration : 0:1:43
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Israel’s Mossad obtained blank passports from Anglo countries, provided false gvmt assurances re use
Virtual ADMISSION by Mossad implicating them in the Dubai assassination – “…a Haaretz probe discovered that the passport photographs of the agents who assassinated Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai were doctored so the agents would not be identified. The discovery casts doubt on claims that the espionage agency that carried out last month’s hit on the senior Hamas operative committed grave errors. Various features of the people in the photographs, such as eye color or the line of a lip, were changed…” http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1152610.html
These are the known facts: The Dubai police claim that 26 visitors entered and exited the emirate over the past year on false British, Irish, Australian, German and French passports. Some or all were involved in the assassination of senior Hamas operative Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, who also entered Dubai under a false identity. The Dubai police chief has accused the Mossad of the January 19 hit. He has presented no proof, but more than half of the fake passports in Dubai bore the names of Israelis.
The European Union and the countries whose passports were counterfeited have criticized the misuse of their identity documents without mentioning the names of those responsible. French President Nicolas Sarkozy termed the assassination utterly unjustified – “nothing more than a murder.” Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement in Mabhouh’s killing or in falsifying the documents, but former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Dan Halutz said that such actions attributed to Israel “deter terror organizations.”
It is unclear whether terrorist groups are more deterred than in the past. What is clear is that the plot is thickening as more suspects are uncovered. If the claims of Israel’s responsibility are correct, what appears to be cumulative damage is getting worse…..
Did Mabhouh’s assassination justify taking such a risk? Was there negligence or contempt for the adversary on the part of the planners, the commanders and those who approved the operation (Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to foreign reports)? Were other operations compromised, that were even more essential than the killing of a Hamas weapons smuggler? Is criticism by countries whose passports were falsified just for the record, or will it limit operatives’ freedom of action in other hits? Will the affair increase Israel’s international isolation and present it once again as a lawless state?
If foreign reports are true about Israel’s responsibility for the Mabhouh hit and the forged passports, then a thorough clarification is warranted, which can lead to conclusions about both organizations and individuals. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1152509.html
AUSTRALIAN authorities had already warned Israeli intelligence against using doctored passports in its clandestine activities around the world, the newspaper The Australian reported on Thursday.
The Australian report came as Canberra warned Israel earlier Thursday that if it was involved in the alleged use of three forged Australian passports in the assassination of a Hamas leader in Dubai, it would not be considered the act of a friend…..
According to sources quoted in the article, Australian authorities approached Israel in the 1990s to seek assurances that Australian passports would not be used in Mossad activities after it was feared Israeli agents had doctored New Zealand passports.
During that meeting, the article claims, the Israelis said they condoned such identity theft, with Australian participants describing their response as “enraged self-righteousness.”
The Australian foreign minister at the time, Alexander Downer, confirmed to The Australian that the then Canberra government warned Israel in at least one occasion not to issue fake Australian passports to its intelligence operatives….. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1152161.html
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Duration : 0:2:21
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