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Australia summons Israeli envoy over Dubai case

Australia has summoned the Israeli ambassador over forged Australian documents used by a terror team that assassinated a senior Hamas commander in Dubai last month.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Thursday that Australia “will not be silent on the matter” after three Australian passport-holders were named among 15 new suspects linked to the assassination of Mahmud al-Mabhouh in his hotel room in Dubai, AFP reported.

“If Australian passports are being used or forged by any state, let alone for the purpose of assassination, this is of the deepest concern and we are getting to the bottom of this now,” said the premier.

“We will not leave a single stone unturned,” he added.

The remarks were made amid the suspicion that the countries whose passports were held by the members of the terror team had been informed by Israel about the operation.

The new suspects with Irish, British, French and Australian passports bring the number of the assassination team to 26, including six women, the Dubai police said on Wednesday.

The roles of the suspects included preparations for the January 20 assassination of al-Mabhouh, according to the police.

The Dubai police views Mossad, the Israeli spy agency, as being the prime suspect in the assassination plot.

According to Police Chief Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, “Dubai police are in possession of dozens of items of incriminating evidence against the cell which attest to the Mossad’s involvement.”

The Israeli and European media had earlier reported that Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu had authorized the assassination of the Hamas commander in an early January meeting with Mossad Chief Meir Dagan held in Tel Aviv.

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