Lebanon: “Attention to European passports” Leader Hezbollah calls for restrictive measures
BEIRUT – Holders of European passports can pose a danger to Lebanon and must therefore be subjected to special checks: the number two of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, Sheykh Naim Qassem, says this, commenting on the case of the false passports used by the members of the commando who , in Dubai, killed a senior Hamas official, Mahmud al-Mabhouh, on 19 January. According to a first reconstruction, to carry out the murder would have been a commando of the Mossad, the Israeli secret service, composed of several people, who used 6 fake British, 3 Irish, 1 French and 1 German passports and prepaid mobile phones from Austria. However, the Israeli government denies all charges.
Naim Qassem, speaking in public during a conference on the role of Hezbollah’s anti-Israeli resistance, evoked “the great Israeli scandal”, stating that “in the current situation, five countries must answer important questions (about the use of their passports ): the Emirate of Dubai, Great Britain, Ireland, France and Germany “.
The high representative of the Shiite movement has expressed fears that Israeli secret service agents may attempt to kill Hizbullah or Palestinian movements in the Cedar country in Lebanon using false European identities. ”
Israel’s answer. In response to what was stated by the Hizbullah exponent, Israel reiterates its extraneousness to the murder of Hamas military commander, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. The Israeli deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon, said today that there is no evidence indicating an involvement of Israeli services in the murder. This is reported by the Haaretz newspaper website.
Ayalon added that this affair had no repercussions on the relations between Israel and its European allies. “There is no crisis with our European allies, because there is nothing that links Israel to the murder,” the deputy minister said. “Great Britain, France and Germany share our interests in the fight against global terrorism, so there is no crisis and our relations are strengthening instead.”
But the Dubai police …Meanwhile, however, the Dubai police claims instead to have new elements that would prove Mossad’s involvement in al Mabhouh’s murder. The Arab daily newspaper at the Bayan reports today. Moreover, according to the website www.Slate.Fr, the eleven alleged killers arrived in Dubai with false European passports, they would all start from Europe: four from Germany, two from Switzerland, three from Italy and two from France.
(February 20, 2010)
