Habib Toumi

Mabhouh checking into the hotel

The three Irish passport-holders accused of taking part in the assassination of a Hamas commander in Dubai do not exist, Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday. The alleged Irish nationals identified on Monday by Dubai Police Chief Lt. Gen. Dhahi Khalfan Tamim as Gail Folliard, Evan Dennings and Kevin Daveron do not appear in Ireland’s records of legitimate passport-holders, said the government. “We are unable to identify any of those three individuals as being genuine Irish citizens. Ireland has issued no passports in those names,” the department said in a statement, according to a report in Haaretz.

The Irish passport numbers given by Dubai authorities are counterfeits because they have the wrong number of digits and contain no letters, the government said. The Daily Telegraph on Tuesday quoted British government sources as saying that the three Irish passport-holders were most likely Mossad agents carrying false passports. The report was published hours after Tamim told the press that Hamas leader Mahmoud Al Mabhouh was murdered last month by an 11-member hit squad of mercenaries carrying European passports. Six held British passports, three held Irish passports, and one each from France and Germany, Tamim said.

Mishka Ben David

 The bits of information available and the camera images shown by the police about the killing of Hamas leader Mahmoud Al Mabhouh in Dubai suggest methods used by the Mossad that are depicted in a novel written by an Israeli former intelligence agent, an Israeli paper said.

According to Haaretz, Mishka Ben-David wrote about the Mossad operation details in detail in his novel ‘Duet in Beirut’.

“Ben-David, who served as the intelligence officer for the Caesarea operations branch of the Mossad, insists that his novel is a work of fiction. However, it is obvious to all that the experience he accumulated in the Mossad over the years appears in his book.”

In “Duet in Beirut”, Ben-David describes the Mossad agents, changing hotels, changing vehicles, arriving from different destinations, and changing clothes and appearances in order to make identification difficult, the newspaper said. continue reading…

Gail Folliard checking in at a hotel

 British government sources on Tuesday said that that the three Irish passport-holders accused of being involved in the assassination of a top Hamas leader last month were Israeli Mossad agents, according to the Daily Telegraph

The London-based paper reported that “there was no ‘corroboration’ within Whitehall of any British involvement in the assassination plot” and that “government sources said that officials do not believe any Irish nationals were involved but were Mossad agents using Irish passports.”

A Foreign Office spokesman said officials were “seeking further information” and were aware a request had been made to Interpol for arrest warrants, the paper said.

“Asked if any of the names had been registered with British officials or if any had reported passports being stolen, a spokeswoman for the Home Office declined to comment.” continue reading…

MPs discuss rights situation with interior minister - BNA

Bahrain’s interior minister has ruled out the existence of tension or disputes with a New York based human rights watchdog following the release of a controversial report. However, the minister said that Bahrain, while welcoming cooperation with international organizations, rejected “foreign tutelage.”

“There is no confrontation or dispute between us and Human Rights Watch. In fact, we agree with the organization as long as the objective is to secure the highest standards of human rights,” Shaikh Rashid Bin Abdullah Al Khalifa said. “Bahrain is deeply committed to international agreements to promote human rights, including the Universal Declaration for Human Rights and the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,” the minister told a parliamentary committee.

Human Rights Watch issued in Manama last week a report in which former detainees have reportedly said that they had been tortured to exact confessions on security-related murder charges. continue reading…

King Hamad receiving Shahin - BNA

Bahrain’s move to broaden cooperation with Turkey is of strategic significance, the speaker of the lower chamber has said.

“Such a strategic decision is very important under the current circumstances and during these critical times. Closer and deeper cooperation will certainly have positive results for both countries,” Khalifa Al Dhahrani said. “We are confident that relations and cooperation between the two countries would steadily increase and parliamentary stances at international forums would be better coordinated,” Al Dhahrani said on Monday evening as Turkey’s Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali Şahin wrapped up a three-day visit to Manama.

The Bahraini parliament leader paid tribute to Ankara’s “honourable” positions towards Arab and Islamic issues. continue reading…