Israeli Assassins ‘had Irish passports’

by Fred Johnston Sat Feb 13, 2010 15:21

There was a time when, if you were a rich Middle Easterner with a fondness for race horses, Charilie Haughey would have given you an Irish passport for a small fiscal consideration. The worth of the Irish passport has long ago been devalued.

by Bazooka Joe Tue Feb 16, 2010 04:38

http://www.statesman.com/news/nation/dubai-says-hamas-m....html

Evan Dennings, Gail Folliard and Kevin Daveron

by dagenham Wed Feb 17, 2010 10:29

"The international investigation into the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh last month is certain to examine the role played by Israel, where as many as seven of the victims of identity theft, including at least four Britons, are currently living."

by Fred Johnston Wed Feb 17, 2010 14:29

It was a Mossad job, with all the hallmarks. But is our belovéd Irish government going to protest to the Israelis about the use of Irish nationality to cover murder? No. Here's the acceptable script:

(1) A statement saying that there is no evidence to say it was an Israeli operation.
(2) A statement saying it would be unhelpful to act without evidence.
(3) A statement saying 'We accept the word of the Israeli government on the affair.'
(4) A statement saying that since the passports were fakes, then it cannot be said 'Irish identity' was actually used.
(5) A statement saying that 'reassurances had been sought and were given.'

Here is the rejected script:

(1) A statement saying that the Israeli Ambassador had been summoned to address his counterparts in the Irish government.
(2) A statement deploring Mossad's use of Irish nationality in the commission of a murder.
(3) A statement ordering Israel to hand over those three assassins who travelled under Irish nationality to the Irish State.
(4) A statement announcing the withdrawal of Irish diplomatic representation from Israel in protest.

Take your pick.

by Fred Johnston Wed Feb 17, 2010 18:22

This is a very interesting video link; at the very end of the heckling of the Israeli diplomat, you will see a Jewish member of the faculty come out from the left of the screen and tell the students who have protested that they have now been failed in their exams.

Now he should be fired at once and/or sued for threatening the futures of these kids, penalising them for attacking Israel. Clearly he has no regard for the American Constitution. His action is not only clearly unlawful, but it is crude and intellectually thuggish.

Who would want to attend such a college after this? Unless I am mistaken, and this gentleman has been fired. But somehow I doubt that.

by iosaf Wed Feb 17, 2010 19:46

I seem to recall that a large number (between 30,000 and 100,000) of pre-processing Irish passports (meaning they hadn't been assigned photos or names) went missing in the last fifteen years of the 20th century. honestly people would be aghast so they would indeed, no doubt, say no more, if they had any idea of how many cheerful types established lives for themselves in other countries on the basis of being Eire state citizens by dint of a black market passport. I knew personally and rather well a pair of sisters who had left Yugoslavia just about the stage it went into its "former" status and their family tree being half Serbian and half Croat got as complicated as the Capulets' and Montagues'. It was a simple tribute to London's multiculturalism that they were able to learn and achieve fluency and then London accents in English pretending to be Irish born on Irish passports without anyone ever challenging their roots. I suppose their kids might someday play for the Eire state soccer or cricket sides.

I also kind of chuckle at the line in the article about preserving the reputation of Ireland by ensuring no criminals, assasins or general maldoers are out there on our passports quite. indeed. no doubt. say no more.

there are quite enough Irish scallywags wandering around globally on our passports as it is.

This whole story tells us nothing new about covert operational logistics but does seem to tell us quite a bit about current covert operational international co-operation.

Are the British and Irish complaining about ID theft or fake passports?

Simply coz they were left out of the loop & had no prior knowledge of the op?

I always suspected DeV gave me da's Free State passport to Shames Bond. just coz me da never left the state. but he had a 007 air about him.

by iosaf Wed Feb 17, 2010 20:49

then why not publish them?

from RTE.

"It has emerged that three of the fake Irish passports used by those responsible for the killing of a senior Hamas figure in Dubai last month carried genuine passport numbers. In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs said that new information had been received from authorities in the United Arab Emirates. The identities on the forged passports do not correspond to those on the valid passports carrying the same numbers.
The Department of Foreign Affairs is now trying to urgently contact the three Irish citizens who hold or held those passports."
http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0217/dubai.html

strange as it might seem this passport raises eyebrows in the Persian Gulf.

by iosaf Thu Feb 18, 2010 01:15

news update : the group used Austrian telecom cards : http://www.lavanguardia.es/internacional/noticias/20100....html

Now surely the dimmest amongst the congregation will see that these people were obviously native English speakers & need not even look at the mugshots to understand that they were of what is generally said to be European appearance.

Now we presume coz they were travelling manipulated Irish & British passports that they were not in face Irish or British nationals or of Irish or British origin.

is that too hasty presumption?

We also seem to presume that the commercial media crap spewing forth from Israel to d'Olier street that these people went into the 7star hotel paradise built on slave labour and toxic bank credit which is Dubai not on local regional Arabic ID but (to labour a point here) English speaking ID.

Check-in people at 4star and 5 star not to mention Dubai 7 star hotels generally recognise native English when they hear it.

you get an ear for it

this ID generally comes with good dental work & a clear almost stentorian native Enghlish pronunciation.

by iosaf Thu Feb 18, 2010 02:01

from wikipedia :-

"The Sunday Times reported that al-Mabhouh was tracked since January 19, 2010 on his 10:05 a.m. departure from Damascus, Syria to Dubai on Emirates Flight 912.[ Israel poisoned Hamas leader http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east...5.ece ] While it states that he traveled under a false passport, Hamas and Dubai officials maintain that al-Mabhouh entered the country under his own identity[ assassinated Al Mabhou travelled to UAE without bodygaurds http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20.../1002 ] a teasing little detail which was cleared up by the Israeli tabloid Ynet... [ Al-Mabhouh's bodyguards couldn't get plane tickets http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3842015,00.html ]

complete article : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_al-Mabhouh

Of course a tippy toppy irish times journalist would simply phone up or yell into an i-pad and seek answers from the 5 star Al Bustan hotel of the rotana group in Dubai & find out what ID the late Mr Al-Mabhouh used when he checked in on January 19th (& perhaps dropping the name Dwyer & hinting at a feature article on Irish passport mercenary types in far off places), weasel in on the records section of that hotel to find out what Irish passport holders were lodging or dossing and more interestingly - what their names were and what the numbers were on their little harp booklets.

That would be in the public interest & probably fill half a page without even worrying about illustrations or advertising.

with this kind of ID you generally expect to queue a lot & undergo all kinds of checks & balances, searches & hassle.

by - Thu Feb 18, 2010 03:50

please note, by the way, all the same, just to mention, that Kevin Daveron is the only passport photo which passes the guidelines for new passports as issued by our esteemed department of foreign affairs. He's looking straight at the camera unlike Gail and his head is level unlike Evan's. Nor indeed is he smiling because you're not supposed to smile, grin or smirk on an Irish passport. If you do they'll send back the photographs and you have to waste another half day trying to get your mug centred in the photo booth.

The Brits for their part have called in the Israeli ambassador to the UK to the Foreign Office to talk to the "permanent undersecretary" who some of you might just think is a posh schooled civil servant straight out of yes minister. But Sir Ricketts was until last November the chairman of the Joint Intelligence Commitee and still sits on it indeed, just to mention, all the same.

In contrast, the Irish state has not yet called in any ambassador, just made a public statement which in this day and age we all know is just a step above going on twitter.

It would be interesting to know who our equivalent of Sir Ricketts was. Perhaps someone with vitamin C deficiency?

Or - would this be case of the Brits doing our dirty work for us & handling our complaints?

Evan Dennings & Gail Folliard

Kevin Daveron

by dagenham Thu Feb 18, 2010 09:16

New Zealand has imposed diplomatic sanctions on Israel over the activities of two alleged members of the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad.

The Israelis were sentenced to six months in prison for trying to obtain New Zealand passports illegally.

by dagenham Thu Feb 18, 2010 13:15

An Emirati official told the New York Times the hit team was not restricted to the 11 individuals whose photographs were initially released by Dubai police, but in fact included a total of 17 people, six of whom had not yet been identified.

Those additional suspects could include the two Palestinians in UAE custody, the second woman shown in the footage and, potentially, Nahro Massoud, a Hamas security official, who is in detention and under interrogation in Damascus in connection with the 19 January killing.

"Hamas suspects that he [Massoud] passed on the information that led to Mabhouh's killing," a senior Palestinian source told Israel's Ma'ariv newspaper.

Informed Palestinian sources insisted Massoud was being questioned amid mounting speculation that potentially senior Palestinian defectors may have assisted in the plot.

The authorities in Dubai have refused to name two other Palestinians who were extradited from Jordan to the United Arab Emirates after the murder. Al-Jazeera reported that one of them worked for Fatah's security services but the Palestinian Authority has denied that.

sraeli media have reported previously that Mabhouh's killing prompted Hamas to launch an internal investigation to determine whether Israel had infiltrated its ranks. "The assassination of someone as senior as Mabhouh has rung an alarm bell in Hamas," one official told the Jerusalem Post. "Only a few people in the Hamas leadership knew about Mabhouh's secret activities and movements."

But Yossi Melman, the Haaretz newspaper's expert on intelligence, commented that such stories were "another example of the sort of psychological warfare against Hamas that would have the organisation become even more suspicious of flawed security in its ranks".

Hamas has said little about Mabhouh except to acknowledge he was a valued member of the organisation. It immediately vowed to retaliate for his death.

A colleague told a Gulf newspaper: "Mabhouh played a key role in supplying the Palestinian people with weapons and money. His central role in the 2008-2009 Gaza war was clear, he supplied Palestinian fighters with special weapons, he was an important figure for our military."

Hamas has accused Israel of trying and failing to kill Mabhouh three months ago. Speculation about the motives for his assassination has focused on his role in the 1989 abduction and killing of two Israeli soldiers.

by Malachy Steenson - Workers Party Thu Feb 18, 2010 15:58

Just got this Press release from DFA,

An Roinn Gnóthaí Eachtracha Preas Ráiteas
Department of Foreign Affairs Press Release

Preas Oifig, Teach Uibh Eachach, Faiche Stiabhna, Baile Átha Cliath 2
Press Office, Iveagh House, St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2.

Tel: 353 -1- 478 0822 Fax: 353 -1- 478 5942 / 475 7476
Idirlíon/Internet: www.dfa.ie Ríomh Phost/E-mail: press.office@dfa.ie

Meeting with the Israeli Ambassador to Ireland

The Israeli Ambassador was invited to the Department of Foreign Affairs this morning by Minister Martin where he met with the Secretary General, Mr David Cooney and the Assistant Secretary in charge of the Passport Office, Mr Ray Bassett.

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.

It was stressed that, regardless of who was responsible, the Government takes grave exception to the forgery and misuse of Irish passports which could devalue the standing of the passports and potentially put at risk the safety of Irish citizens travelling abroad.

The Ambassador said that he had no information on the matter and would relay the messages he had received to his authorities.

Ends+++
18 February 2010
Press Office

by Fred Johnston Fri Feb 19, 2010 13:46

First of all, and crucially: the passports were real, only the identities were faked. So the question, as rightly asked by Robert Fisk this morning on Al Djazeera, is: how did REAL Irish passports leave Ireland and get to Israel? The use of these passports puts at risk the ives of every Irish citizen travelling abroad. The Irish government should ask the Israeli ambassador to go, not permit him to read from the same smug hymn-sheet ashis colleague in Britain and say nothing. He should be expelled.

by pat c Fri Feb 19, 2010 17:02

Well said Fred! Heres some articles on the International Terrorism carried out by Israel. Full text at links.

Dubai Accuses Mossad Over Mabhouh Assassination
By Aljazeera

Israel is coming under increasing pressure over the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a senior Hamas commander, at a luxury Dubai hotel last month. The National, an Abu Dhabi government-owned newspaper, quoted Dahi Khalfan Tamim, the head of the Dubai police force, as saying that the investigation into the killing "reveal[s] that Mossad [Israel's security service] is involved in the murder". Tamim told the publication's website on Thursday that he "is 99 per cent, if not 100 per cent, that Mossad is standing behind the murder"
http://www.countercurrents.org/aljazeera180210.htm

Mounting Evidence Mossad Behind Dubai Assassination Of Hamas Leader
By Chris Marsden

There is mounting evidence that Mossad, Israel’s secret service, organised the hit squad that murdered senior Hamas official Mahmoud al Mabhouh in Dubai on the evening of January 19. The assassins used the stolen identities of six British citizens and faked at least five other European passports. Not only does this fit a pattern of previous Israeli operations, but five of those whose identities were used live in Israel.
http://www.countercurrents.org/marsden180210.htm

by iosaf Fri Feb 19, 2010 19:55

To reiterate the points I made when putting up the illustrations of the passports and the suspects - & perhaps to hone those points I think it's worth quoting the New York Times piece which has been referenced now in the British press without highlighting its curious and peculiar angle.
It's not surprising that the NYT which caters for the largest jewish readership outside of any Israeli newspaper like Haaretz or Ynet that it pulls the punches.
The article was titled "Israelis Share Suspicions in Hamas Leader’s Killing" and written by the NYT correspondent in Jerusalem, Isabel Kershner. She began her piece thus "The initial nods, winks and pats on the back here over the assassination last month of a senior Hamas official in Dubai are turning to puzzlement and concern as mounting evidence, including extensive surveillance videos, points to a remarkably clumsy operation many Israelis deem unworthy of their intelligence service, Mossad. She then goes on to suggest the operation was a frame-up of the Israelis. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/world/middleeast/18du...world

Now there's something in that which interests me more than reading shock and indignance from the UK Authorities and their junior partners (as yet un-named in the foreign affairs dept). Oh we are told relations with Israel which were in freeze are now in deep freeze! Yes the pariah apartheid state which is the Israeli one has gone just too far with this one .

Or has it??????????

I wrote above that this story tells us less about covert operation logistics and assassinations which the UK & French certainly know about than it tells us about the current inter-agency co-operation status. Israeli's mossad has fallen out of the favour it once had under its Ephraim days to be not quite trusted & more importantly to be seen not to be trusted.

Interplod warrents are utterly politicised crap at this level & if you don't believe me then use their freephone number to report known war criminals on your housing estate.................. quite. there is no freephone number. I daresay Interplod have as little credibility around your housing estate as the Dubai police. Like let's be honest - when have they ever figured in our newspapers? Did they arrest slave drivers? Did they stop trafficking of child jockeys???? No! the last and perhaps only time we've read about the Dubai police was when they were deciding to jail an unmarried man and woman for shagging on the beach .

We should rather than getting all hot and bothered about the passports (which I showed above were badly faked in my comments when I illustrated the Irish ones) be keen to evaluate the current level of play and sanction between the EU nasty types (Brits and French) & mossad. After all there is a nasty hawk in the Israeli government and plans a foot to "do Iran".

A message is being sent to the current regime in Israel & Mossad from Europe. That is the only reason this story is continuing. & as usual the omissions from the story suggest the most pertinent lines of inquiry.

by joe soap Tue Feb 23, 2010 12:06

I must say, I am very surprised, nay, SHOCKED, at the naivety or perhaps denial shown by Robert Fisk in his comment above. Doesnt he know that passport numbers and other details are retained by all countries that are visited by the holders??? How many Irish jews use their "irish" passports to visit "home" each year? How many Irish christians visit the holy sites now occupied by israel each year? How many people visit and work in kibbutz' under the guise of a cheap holiday in the sun? All in all they must number in the thousands. So my guess is that is where mossad gets the details it requires to carry out these ops. Another guess is, jews, like us Irish, are in EVERY SINGLE COUNTRY ON THE PLANET. So is it really inconceivable to believe that there are no jews employed by the Irish govt? notably the passport office? Then there is the use of servers in israel for all sorts of things. Telecommunications being the "Big One". Hardly a phonecall is made on the planet without the USA and its handlers, israel having it and its contents recorded on their servers. Who looks after all things internet and telecom in Ireland today? that's right . american and israeli companies. They'll even know my exact geographic location on the button within seconds of me hitting the publish button below.
Dont look at things in their individual lights. Combine ALL you have read, heard, learned about the machinations of israel in the Middle East over the years...its reluctance to enact U.N resolution 242...its insistence on infliction of other resolutions pertaining to Arabs etc.
Bertie, (remember him?) once said..."..george bush looked me in the eye and said there was no blah blah blah being transported through Shannon". And we all know how honest bush and aherne turned out to be in the end.
Ireland is a paper tiger, folded into leprechauns at the will of the origami experts of israel and its lesser country, usa. We will NEVER, EVER, find out what really happened. The fact that Gerry Conlon et al finally had their real day in court was the result of pure chance. Chance we can perhaps hope to rely on in this case.

by joe soap Tue Feb 23, 2010 13:15

I suppose it's pure coincidence that one of the addresses used by the israeli hit squad was the home of a brother of a former taoseach ~(thats prime minister to the rest of ye)of Ireland who was involved in a passport for cash scandal....just the kin d of irony israel gets itsa jollies from.

by Sean Og Tue Feb 23, 2010 23:01

Good point - last year when I went for passport photo

Irish also E U regualtions said

NO glasses on -- look straight at camera - plain white background

by Sean Og Wed Feb 24, 2010 09:36

Odd they picked very untypical Irsh names

and an empty house near all the embassies

- was there no address in O Deas patch avaialble ?