Israeli envoys in London, Dublin: No information on Mabhouh hit
Ambassador to UK Prosor says following meeting at Foreign Office on use of fake UK passports in Dubai hit, 'I could not shed new light on the said matters.' Irish Foreign Office says Ambassador Evrony 'had no information,' adding 'we take grave exception to forgery, misuse of Irish passports.' Miliband, Lieberman to discuss matter in Brussels
LONDON - Israel's ambassador to Britain held a brief meeting Thursday at the Foreign Office to answer questions following a diplomatic dispute over the slaying of a Hamas leader.
Britain has said it will investigate how some suspects in the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh came to have British passports - and how they might have been forged.
Names on some of the passports matched people living in Israel, raising possible links to Israel's Mossad spy agency.
Ambassador Ron Prosor said upon leaving his meeting at the Foreign Office in London, "After receiving an invitation last night, I met with Sir Peter Ricketts, the permanent undersecretary of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Despite my willingness to cooperate with his request, I could not shed new light on the said matters."
"In accordance with accepted diplomatic protocol, it would be unfitting to reveal the content of the talks conducted between the countries," said Prosor.
'Concern for British passport holders in Israel'
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said that in the meeting Ricketts made it clear to Ambassador Prosor that Britain was determined to investigate the issue.
Ricketts "made clear how seriously we take any suggestion of fraudulent use of British passports" and "explained the concern we have for British passport holders in Israel," Miliband said.
"He made clear that we wanted to give Israel every opportunity to share with us what it knows about this incident, and we hope and expect that they will cooperate fully with the investigation," he said, adding he would raise the issue with Israel's foreign minister when they meet in Brussels in the next few days.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's office said he will in fact meet his Britsh counterpart in Brussels, but added that the meeting was scheduled in advance in the framework of talks with several European foreign ministers.
Meanwhile, the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs issued a statement Thursday saying Israeli Ambassador Zion Evrony met with the secretary-general of the department.
"The main issue raised was the fraudulent use of Irish passports by persons believed to have committed a murder in Dubai. Details were provided to the ambassador of the fake passports and the Israeli authorities were requested to provide whatever information and assistance they could in this matter," the statement read.
"It was stressed that regardless of who was responsible, the Irish government takes grave exception to the forgery and misuse of Irish passports, which could devalue the standing of the passport and put at risk the safety of Irish citizens traveling abroad.
Ambassador Evrony said that he had no information on the matter and would relay the messages he has received to his authorities."
Earlier, Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Micheal Martin said the al-Mabhouh assassination had jeopardized the security of two Irish citizens due to the assassins' alleged use of their passport details.
Martin told RTE Radio's Morning Ireland that his office, in collaboration with local security agencies, was trying to locate a third Irish citizen whose identity had been stolen by the Dubai hit squad.
Roni Sofer and news agencies contributed to the report
