The British government said today it was expelling an Israeli diplomat over the use of forged British passports by suspected killers of a Hamas commander in Dubai.
Foreign secretary David Miliband told parliament there were compelling reasons to believe Israel was responsible for the misuse of British passports in the case and said he had sought assurances that Israel would not misuse them again.
The total number of suspects alleged to be involved in the killing is 27.
Of those, six were travelling on fake Irish passports with numbers and expiry dates that matched genuine Irish passports. The total number of fraudulent passports used in the operation now stands at 12 British, six Irish, four French, three Australian and one German.
The Department of Foreign Affairs told The Irish Times that the Government will not take any action until a Garda investigation into the affair is complete.
Israel's foreign ministry confirmed that the country's ambassador to Britain Ron Prosor was called to London's Foreign Office for talks yesteday.
Britain sent investigators to Israel this month to meet eight Israeli-British dual nationals whose identities were used by syspects in the Jan 20. slaying of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a luxury hotel room.
Dubai authorities have accused Israel's Mossad spy agency of being behind the slaying, and have identified at least 26 suspects from the alleged hit squad that traveled to Dubai on fake identities and forged European and Australian passports.
At least 15 of the suspected killers share names with Israeli citizens, further fueling suspicions the Mossad was behind the hit. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement in al-Mabhouh's killing.
Interpol has published a wanted list of 27 people in connection with the slaying.
Earlier this month, Israeli Ambassador to Ireland, Dr Zion Evrony, declined a request to attend a meeting of an Oireachtas committee to discuss the use of forged Irish passports by a team allegedly responsible for the assassination.