Dubai: David Cameron, the leader of the opposition Conservative party, has renewed calls for Israel to assure that it will not misuse British passports again.
"We cannot permit the cloning of, interference with or misuse of British passports by another state," Cameron told Gulf News in an exclusive interview.
On March 23, Foreign Secretary David Miliband announced the expulsion of an Israeli diplomat from London, after 12 British passports were fraudulently used in connection with the murder of Hamas commander Mahmoud Al Mabhouh in Dubai.
"We therefore think Israel should give an assurance that it will not sanction, for whatever reason, and in any intelligence operations, the misuse of British passports," Cameron said.
Although the name of the diplomat was not revealed, for legal reasons, Israeli news outlets later reported that it was the Mossad representative in London.
Mossad link
Dubai Police previously said it was "100 per cent sure" that Mossad was behind the murder, which occurred on January 19.
Cameron said the expulsion of a diplomat is a serious step, which no government takes lightly.
"We supported the action taken by the government and did not think it [the expulsion] was too lenient," he said.
To date, no response has been received by the UK from Israel.
The expulsion came after the results of a Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) investigation were provided to the government.
According to the foreign secretary, it was clear that the 12 British passport holders were "wholly innocent victims of identity theft".
Miliband also announced at the House of Commons at the time that the UK's travel advice to Israel had been amended "to make clear the potential risk, and to set out the steps they [British nationals] can take to minimise that risk".
He continued that the UK had "no advance knowledge of what happened in Dubai nor any involvement whatsoever in the killing", saying that the passports used were copied from genuine British passports.
"No government would stand by in a situation such as this," he said, continuing that the forgeries were so sophisticated that it was clear they had been made by a state intelligence service.
