Britain has expelled Mossads chief representative in London after a criminal investigation blamed the Israeli spy agency for the cloning of British passports used in the assassination of a senior Hamas operative in Dubai.
The diplomat"s expulsion was announced in a statement to Parliament by David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, who said that Israel"s "intolerable" misuse of British passports had shown a "profound disregard" for the UK"s sovereignty.
"The fact that this was done by a country which is a friend, with significant diplomatic, cultural, business and personal ties to the UK, only adds insult to injury," Mr Miliband said.
"No country or government could stand by in such a situation," he added. "I have asked that a member of the Embassy of Israel be withdrawn from the UK as a result of this affair and this is taking place."
Related LinksIsrael defies Obama over Jerusalem settlements Middle East may be on Obama"s back burnerNew suspect named in Dubai assassinationThe 12 passports were among at least 26 forged European and Australian identity documents used by the members of an Israeli hit squad which murdered the Hamas armourer Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a Dubai hotel on January 19.
Mr Miliband said that an investigation carried out by the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (Soca), which sent officers both to Dubai and Israel, had shown that the owners of the passports had been the unwitting and innocent victims of official identity fraud.
"Given that this was a very sophisticated operation, in which high-quality forgeries were made, the Government judges it is highly likely that the forgeries were made by a state intelligence service," he said.
"Taking this together with other inquiries, and the link with Israel established by Soca, we have concluded that there are compelling reasons to believe that Israel was responsible for the misuse of the British passports.
"The Government takes this matter extremely seriously. Such misuse of British passports is intolerable ... I have asked that a member of the embassy of Israel be withdrawn, and this is taking place."
Mr Miliband did not identify the expelled diplomat nor identify them as an intelligence officer, but sources told The Times that the senior Mossad representative at the Israeli Embassy had been told to leave.
Israel said it regretted the British move. The relationship between Israel and Britain is mutually important. We therefore regret the British decision, said Yigal Palmor, the spokesman for the Foreign Ministry.
While the Government was measured in its response to the new diplomatic crisis erupting with the UK, MPs from the far right were quick to denounce the British as dogs who were not to be trusted.
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