Explanation demanded

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has called on Israel to explain itself over the assassination of a senior member of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

"In view of the information revealed so far I believe it is imperative to clear up thoroughly the circumstances surrounding Mahmoud al-Mabhouh's death," Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in a statement on Thursday.

Al-Mabhouh was killed last month in Dubai, where he was allegedly planning to buy weapons. Police in Dubai have said they are almost certain that Israel's secret service agency, Mossad, was behind the killing.

They have released the names and photos of 11 suspected members of a hit squad believed to have been involved in the killing of al-Mabhouh, who was found dead in a hotel room. All had European passports - six from Britain, three from Ireland, one from France and one from Germany.

The international police agency Interpol, which believes the passport identities were stolen from real individuals, has placed the suspects on its most wanted list.

Israel remains silent

Mossad, whose agents have used fake foreign passports for operations in the past, has remained silent on the matter. Britain, France and Ireland have insisted that the passports were forged.

Each of those countries has demanded an explanation from Israel, but none of them has directly accused Israel of the killing and its government has refused to comment on the case.

Across Europe, Israeli diplomats were asked to provide information about the fraudulent use of passports.

Answers demanded

Britain demanded to know how several of its citizens living in Israel found their details had been used by the alleged killers. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said it had been made clear "how seriously we take any suggestion of fraudulent use of British passports."

Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said there had been "frank" talks, saying he regarded the use of false Irish passports as "an extremely serious incident."

A spokesman for France’s foreign ministry said that it had "expressed France's deep concern about the malicious and fraudulent use" of a French passport.

rc/dpa/AFP/Reuters
Editor: Chuck Penfold