24-05-2010, 07:24 PM
Ed Jewett Wrote:Israel Responsible for Faking Aussie Passports, Diplomat Expelled
May 24th, 2010 Via: Sydney Morning Herald:
Australia’s relations with Israel have hit a new low, with the Rudd Government expelling an Israeli diplomat over the fake passports affair.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Stephen Smith, told Parliament today that inquiries by Australian intelligence agencies into the use of fake Australian passports in Dubai had concluded the fakes were the work of a state intelligence agency.
Mr Smith said this led to the conclusion there was no doubt Israel was responsible.
“No government can tolerate the abuse of its passports, especially by a foreign government,” he said. “This represents a clear affront to the security of our passport system.”
The scandal over the use of fake passports erupted internationally after the January murder of a Hamas operative.
Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, one of Hamas’s top arms dealers, was found dead in his hotel room on January 20.
Dubai police identified 27 people involved in the assassination, 12 of whom travelled on forged British passports.
Four of the suspects travelled on Australian passports in the names of four dual Australian-Israeli citizens.
Mr Smith said that intelligence sharing with Mossad would also be cut as the fake passports affair drags relations between the two countries to a new low.
Yes, it's caused a major fuss here, Ed.
And all the Israel firsters in the Aussie media are jumping to Israel's defence of course. None are more shrill than Greg Sheridan, who is funded by a private think tank. In this bizarre piece, he equates the Dubai murder with Australian soldiers fighting in Afghanistan and claims the moral high ground for the Mossad murderers.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opi...5870774061
Quote:The tone and content of Mr Smith's statement yesterday are also perplexing. For some reason he refers to the killing of the Hamas terrorist as murder, as though that were the end of the moral equation.
Hamas is committed to murderous terrorism directed at killing Israeli civilians. It is a proscribed terrorist organisation.
Australian troops in Afghanistan have targeted al-Qa'ida leaders personally and directly in missions to kill these leaders. In Mr Smith's terms, the Diggers must also be guilty of murder.