Hamas Commander Killing: Oz Warns Israel over Use of its Passport
Delivering a strong diplomatic warning to Israel, Australia has demanded its full cooperation with a probe into the reported use of three Australian passports by the alleged assassins involved in last month’s killing of a top Hamas commander in Dubai, reported Al Jazeera.
Australian foreign minister Stephen Smith said that he summoned the Israeli ambassador on Thursday morning and said that if Israel was found involved in the passport abuse, it would not be seen as a friendly act, said report.
“We have made no conclusion about what to us, from our preliminary investigation, seems to be a serious abuse of three Australian passports either through forgery or identity fraud,” he was quoted as saying.
“But I made it crystal clear to the ambassador that if the results of that investigation cause us to come to the conclusion that the abuse of Australian passports was in any way sponsored or condoned by Israeli officials, then Australia would not regard that as the act of a friend.”
Yesterday, Dubai police had revealed that three persons, a woman and two men, holding obviously fake Australian passports, were among 15 new suspects in the killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.
Smith said that initial probe conducted following the Dubai police announcement showed the Australian passports were probably ‘duplicated or altered’, said report.
