London: UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband demanded full cooperation from Israel after calling in the country's ambassador to discuss how suspects in the killing of a Hamas leader in Dubai were travelling on UK passports.
"Any interference with British passports is an outrage," Miliband said in an interview on BBC Radio 2. He said he would hold talks with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman in Brussels on February 22.
"We have got to know what happened to British passports," UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown said in a statement. "It is as simple as that."
Miliband refused to comment on whether the UK government believed Mossad was involved. "We'll come to our own conclusions," he said. While "Israel has every right to defend itself", Miliband said, "it's wrong to have a policy of targeted assassinations".
Israel's ambassador to the UK, Ron Prosor, said in a statement after his meeting with Foreign Office Permanent Under Secretary Peter Ricketts that "it would be improper to disclose the content of such bilateral discussions".
The Israeli ambassador to Ireland also went to the Irish foreign ministry in Dublin yesterday morning for a meeting that lasted 45 minutes, a spokeswoman for Foreign Affairs Minister Michael Martin said by phone.
Serious incident
"It is an extremely serious incident and puts the security of Irish citizens at risk," Martin said earlier yesterday on national broadcaster RTE. "We are seeking assistance and clarifications."
Even though Israel's relations with Ireland and Britain may go through a tough period over the Al Mabhouh killing, they're unlikely to suffer long-term harm, Jonathan Spyer, a political scientist at the Interdisciplinary Centre Herzliya, said in a phone interview.
"When more evidence emerges, then we could see, depending on the evidence, a further ratcheting-up," he said. "But based on past experience, countries have had an interest in letting things blow over."
The UK Foreign Office and the Irish government have contacted the nationals named as suspects. Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency has begun an investigation. Martin said the Irish passports were "just randomly stolen".
