By IRNA,
Berlin : The European Union strongly condemned the use of forged EU passports by Israel’s secret service in the brutal killing of a top Hamas official in Dubai last month, press reports said here Monday.
In a statement, EU foreign ministers said the murder of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh had raised “profoundly disturbing” issues.
“The EU strongly condemns the fact that those involved in this action (the assassination) used fraudulent EU member states’ passports and credit cards acquired through the theft of EU citizens’ identities,” it added.
The ministers stressed the Israeli action was complicating efforts to promote peace and stability in the Middle East.
Eleven fake passports from Britain, Ireland, Germany and France were used by the alleged killers of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh on January 20, in Dubai, provoking
expressions of outrage from the relevant EU countries.
Meanwhile, British Foreign Minister David Miliband urged Israel to cooperate with the investigation launched by Dubai into the assassination of a Hamas official using forged European passports.
Talking to his Israeli counterpart Avigdor Lieberman in Brussels on Monday, Miliband stressed the “importance” of Israel to cooperate on the issue.
“It is very important that people know that we continue to take this issue very seriously indeed,” he added.
Several EU countries, among them Britain, Germany, France and Ireland, had summoned Israeli diplomats to their foreign ministries last week to protest
al-Mabhouh’s murder.