UK.gov blames Israel for cloning passports in Dubai hit The UK Foreign Secretary has directly blamed Israel for forging 12 passports used in the Dubai assassination of a Hamas military boss in January. Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, founder of Hamas's military wing, was killed in a Dubai hotel on 19 January by a 27-strong hit squad who entered the UAE using counterfeit passports from Western …
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1204641/New-ID-cards-supposed-unforgeable--took-expert-12-minutes-clone-programme-false-data.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2006/nov/17/news.homeaffairs
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-440069/Safest-passport-fit-purpose.html
The digital information on the UK's so-called "secure" passports and identity cards is so ridiculously easy to grab, copy and modify that only a New Labour drone would still believe that sticking everyone with an RFID chip is anywhere near a good idea or ever was.
The only thing remaining is to make the physical copy look convincing enough for a border guard to wave it through. Methinks a nuclear power has or can get the expertise to do that, without the UK's help.
Sure you can clone the RFID data, but at the moment you cannot change it. (As far as I recall - apologies if that's not true.) So in reality there is no point in doing so since if you want to change the photo then you'll get caught by biometric border controls, and all you need for non-biometric borders is a decent physical copy.
But, there is talk that it was Mossad that were tracking the IRA Gibraltar crew. And that MI6 only notified 22 SAS only after a tip-off from them.
Any Mossad "diplomat " will be on a return ticket. This is just publicity. They are permanently stationed in the UK.
Ignoring the morarlty or otherwise of the operation,the use of British passports undermines the general acceptance of a British passport and may hinder British citizens in the future.
There was specific agreement between the Israeli and British governments after the last incident like this in 1987 that Israel would not use British passports in this kind of operation in the future. Israel broke this agreement. Not an unusual thing for Israel but not something the British government can ignore if agreements with Israel are to have any meaning at all.
Overall given that israel has broken a specific agreement with a supposed ally and in doing so potentially impaired the travel of all British citizens I think the reaction is rather minor but then Israel always seems to have exceptionally favourable treatment. Israel has a long and consistent history of the use of death squads sometimes murdering civilians even in friendly countries, for example the Lillehammer incident. What would be the reaction if this had been Libya or Iran?
1. Israel allegedly produces high quality clones of UK (and other) passports.
2. Israeli agents use cloned passports in an extra-judical assassination
3. UK.gov expels a low-level Israeli diplomat in protest
Or alternatively
1. UK.gov produces high quality clones of UK passports.
2. Israeli agents use provided passports in an extra-judical assassination
3. UK.gov makes a show of expelling a low-level Israeli diplomat in protest
4. UK.gov suddenly has a selling point for their unwanted biometric ID card & Passport scheme and Israel is rid of a thorn in its side. Everyone is happy!
I saw a programme on television the other day filmed from within the west bank and it was a real eye opener to the way the Jews actually behave towards the Palistinians.
The Palestinians are always portrayed by Israel and the media as being the bad guys, but fundamentally, everything that goes into the West Bank is controlled by Israel, that's everything.
Israel won't even allow the country to have enough medical supplies! Why on earth would a supposedly democratic country quite deliberately deny another country medicine?
They way the Israel behaves towards other countries, is in my absolutely disgusting.
The fact is, Israel denies these people basic human rights. Hardly the actions of an intelligent, democracy is it? But there you go.
An English born Jewish friend of mine was always supportive of Israel, they could do no wrong in his eyes. Forget about the violation of numerous UN resolutions, his perception was that Israel was always correct.
His attitude - which I feel may be representative of the Israeli nation as a whole - was, "Hamas hit Israel with a few rockets, kill a couple of Israelis, so we attack the West Bank back 10 times as hard, we slaughter many more people to teach them a lesson." "And we don't care if they're civilians or not".
I think it's disgusting. But no-one can put a stop to it? Why? Because of money, the Jewish influence in western countries around the world.
My prediction for the future? There will never be peace in the middle east between Israel and its neighbours, because of their arrogance and determination to win what was given to them in a stupid f**ng fictional book!
Umm... the thing is, the guy who was killed was founder of Hamas, and Hamas launched many successful attacks against Isreal. And Hamas still argues for complete elimination of Isreal as a state and people. In effect, genocide. Isreal, just wants to build a wall around the Palenstinian areas. The Palestinians have their own gov't now. In fact, they have two, because they can't agree.
No one in the middle east is too worked up about this killing. One guy got killed. Big deal. Hamas assassinates more of their own people each year.
Their could be peace in Palenstine, but not with Hamas. They can't agree with anyone.
Cultural memories take a long time to heal. Israel *was* created on and *does* occupy part of the pre 1945 county of Palestine. A British "protectorate" that we protected by giving away. While a little real-politic on the part of Hamas wouldn't hurt anybody, nor would a little compassion and respect of this little piece of history on the part of Israel. Sadly these kinds of greivences often take tens of generations to settle down. Still, lots of people get to die pointlessly in that time, so that's nice.
Perhaps if we'd set up the Jewish state in California the US point of view would be different? Although possibly Northern Ireland would have been the most entertaining option.
Sigh.
I don't think the book was fictional. I think Moses really did kick it all off my murdering a slave master and burrying him in the sand. Having broken the Israelite slaves free of Egypt they then went round raiding the various towns and cities killing everyone, men women and children. In those days they were hated and feared. In mitigation, God made them do it.
Obviously it's completely different today.
PS: Maybe I should not have read the first bit of the Bible?
Just because you are correct does not make it ok to say this stuff. Saying unkind (but true) things about Israel is anti-semetic because it hurts their feelings. Remember the Nazi's were very horrible to them so cut them some slack. Once they get even and kill about 3 million of the rest of us, then we can start complaining, until then, just be understanding of them.
And it's good to see people telling it how it is on this board. Censureship on other boards is much stronger. I only hinted with "The people who clone passports killed David Kelly" and my post was blocked.
It's perfectly normal for one nation to kill people in their neighbouring nation. Israel is not unusual in this respect. Britain is a past master at this and at one time killed people in every country of the world. It's just makes me sick that the Israelies play the simpathy card and expect us to feel sorry for them when they have a longer history than most of murdering people.
Millygirl trying to look tough? Yeah, like MI6 has NEVER used fake passports before! I suppose a suitably Biblical quote would be "Let he whom is without sin cast the first stone".... The argument from the civil servants is that by abusing the integrity of Birtish passports, Israel has put all UK travellers at risk. Personally, I'll feel much safer on my next trip to Israel knowing MadBoob is not around to send suicide bombers anymore.
It seems that in this case Kidon with support from other branches of the institute have been caught short. After promises to Canada the UK and NZ that they would not do this again.
The vidz on youtube shew all one needs to know. Right down to the surgical gloves, reddened elbows and hiding of faces on exit point to the lift: (Cow prod followed swiftlty by Suxamethonium Chloride and rapid pillow suffocation to complete the job).
Israel needs to start making friends. And it won't do this through Zionism.
Unfortunately, this one's one of those predictable ones.
Mock outrage, flimsy denial, promise made that no-one expects to be kept and the token sending-home of a faceless official.
All (very shabby) theatre for the diversion of the masses. Behind closed doors? A few words delivered in hurt tones by Millipede and a response delivered in "Oh grow up!" tones by the Israeli bod.
"Miliband has sought assurances from Israeli foreign minster Avigdor Lieberman that British passports will not be misused in this way again."
No need, we've had that assurance since 1987 -- just after the last time the Mossad were caught with forged passports. (See http://nyti.ms/9oF7bI for example)
The "new and Improved" biometric ones get cloned, we will know that it had to be the country that cloned them.
I want to see Israel weasel out of that one.
Cloned passport AND biometric chip ?
OMG Haxorz !
As soon as your passport is scanned through Israel border control, they have an official copy of all your details, which can be cloned in their passport factory.
Biometrics are not designed to repel official high level cloning of passports, just the low level Nigerian stuff.
Moral of the story...
Don't travel via Israel, if you don't want your data stolen.
First of all, it is pretty suspicious that so many British passports were cloned. And the claims don't make a lot of sense. If indeed they were copied while they had "access", that means that Isreal could have copied any passport of anyone traveling through any airport in Isreal.
And why are they now "high quality" passports? The pictures were completely different, then the names. In fact, why did official claim after the initial killing was carried out, that the passports were "obvious forgeries"?
The whole thing is BS. When it looked like UK citizens were involved, the UK said that the passports were obviously forged, to pass the blame to Dubai. When it emerged, they were copied, then it suddely was declared that Isreal copied them, because they are supposedly so hard to copy. As already has been mentioned, it isn't hard.
That part that makes the least sense, is that two of these suspected "Mossad" agents flew to Iran, after the killing. Iran is on high alert due to the election related unrest.
Foreign visitors of any type are always carefully examined in Iran, and are always assumed to be western spies. Anyone suspicious is arrested, and ejected. And they didn't notice two Brits with fake passports just passing through? In addition, why wasn't Iran's highly capable security agencies able to explain where these two went after the killing? They just flew into Iran, and disappeared? That is unlikely. They would know, if they boarded an outgoing flight, and which one. Or, if they left the airport. And they would know where they are now. They just aren't saying.
I still find it hard to believe that a nation's intelligence service could make such OBVIOUSLY fake passports - after how many years of making them? They should know by now how to make ones that look real and follow the rules of actual passports (the correct rules for passport photo are not hard too find out for f*cks sake!). So im sorry but i still cant believe this was a mossad op.
On a side note - i have yet to hear a single voice raised in anger about the fact that Mahmood was ALSO travelling on a fake passport. I havent been able to find from any source which country's passports he was travelling on but i think personally i am much more concerned with the fact that terrorists (and well known terrorists at that) are able to get fake passports too!
The fakes weren't discovered because they were badly done, they were discovered because police investigated CCTV footage and hotel records after finding a dead body. By that point the perps had left the country and said passports had been disposed of. If the passports were so "OBVIOUSLY fake" then surely they'd have been spotted before any of that happened, no?
Ok so the Mossad cocked up, otherwise we wouldn't have even heard about this, but on all available info the cockup doesn't seem to have been with their passport forgery skills.
And surely this Mahmoud fellow would be a lousy *international criminal* if he WASN'T using a fake passport?
>When you buy your fruit make sure it comes from the West Bank. That way you aren't supporting a terrorist state.
I hope you were being ironic but I am guessing not. I won't argue the point about Israel (pariah state much like North Korea) but saying the West Bank hasn't also committed some terrible human rights violations against even their own people is to deny reality. For christ sakes they had a Mickey Mouse clone teach the tikes to kill jews on TV. The west bank hasn't gotten much better since Arafat died but too early to praise their tactics yet.
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