The assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai is looking more and more like it was a Mossad hit. Unless it was someone else who wanted people to believe it was the Mossad.
Either way, the you-know-what is about to hit the thing with the rotating blades.
Hours after it was revealed that the assassinators of senior Hamas member Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai used the identities of Israeli citizens carrying a British passport, the United Kingdom has began probing the affair vigorously.
London-based Times newspaper reported Tuesday evening that the authorities were investigating the possibility that British passport details were copied from the originals by immigration staff while the holders were travelling.
Earlier, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office confirmed that the identities in the British passports used by six members of the 11-strong hit squad were those of real British passport holders.
“We are aware that the holders of six British passports have been named in this case,” said a spokesman said. “We believe the passports used were fraudulent and have begun our own investigation.”
At least three of the six members are believed to be Israeli-British citizens who live in Israel and who recognized their details in media reports. Melvyn Adam Mildiner of Beit Shemesh, Steven Daniel Hodes of Ramat Beit Shemesh and Paul John Keeley of Kibbutz Nahsholim panicked when they saw their full names on the assassins’ passports, as well as their passport numbers and dates of birth. The pictures and signatures in the passports, however, did not match their own.
The assassinators’ passports include three additional names which are similar, but not identical, to those of Israeli citizens: Jonathan Louis Graham, James Clarke and Michael Bodenheimer.
British Embassy spokesman Rafi Shamir told Ynet that the embassy had not received any appeals on the matter from British citizens living in Israel.
Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)
11:02PM: Palestinians launch an Avatards Facebook group. Hilarity ensues.
7:58PM: ISM terror enabler changes her Facebook name after my post exposing her lies.
4:55PM: Quote of the day:
“I don’t know why we are assuming that Israel, or the Mossad, used those passports.”
– Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman
4:35PM: The London-based Arab paper al-Sharq al-Awsat has lauded the Mossad’s professionalism in the wake of indications that Israel may have been involved in the killing of Hamashole Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.
On the other hand, the London daily al-Sharq al-Awsat actually reported its satisfaction with Israel from the operation, calling it “victory intoxication.”
The newspaper noted a number of points for which Israelis should be proud following exposure of the affair: “Firstly, the pictures acquitted Israeli minister, Uzi Landau, who was accused of bringing about the assassination agents. It was clearly proven that the assassins arrived in Dubai separately and privately without any need for the minister and his entourage. They arrived from Beirut and other countries.”
“Secondly, the operation proved their outstanding professionalism since the assassins were able to carry out (the mission) and leave without any hurdle. According to the Israelis, the professionalism was proven in the methods used by the mission’s agents, step after step, and in the means they used to disguise their real facial features.”
“Third, Dubai is full of cameras at every corner, which was a surprise. The cameras did not prevent this assassination, but made it difficult for anyone seeking to repeat this again in the future,” the paper wrote.
“Fourth, while most of the senior Israeli officials would like blame for the assassination to be assigned to them so they could proudly flaunt it, at the same time, they are glad the Dubai Police have not managed to directly accuse them thus far. The 11 people seen in the pictures as those who carried out the assassination did not carry an Israeli passport, and it is unclear what the investigation will reveal,” the report concluded.
1:45PM: Separated at birth?
The Ha’aretz reporter and his friends and family seem to think so.
But seriously, other than both of them being follicle-ly challenged, I see no resemblance.
9:20AM: CNN’s Rick Sanchez almost sounds excited at the beginning of this report on the Hamas terrorist assassination in Dubai.
