Israeli Agent wanted over Dubai killing of Hamas leader 'held in Poland'

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Israeli wanted over Dubai killing 'held in Poland'​

Polish authorities have arrested a suspected Israeli agent in connection with the murder of a Hamas operative in Dubai in January.

Officials say the agent was arrested in early June. Media reports named him as Uri Brodsky.

Germany is seeking his extradition over a forged German passport used by one of the killers, the prosecutors say.

Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, one of the founders of Hamas's military wing, was found dead in a Dubai hotel on 20 January.

Dubai police have said they are 99% sure Israeli agents were involved, but Israel says there is no proof.

Extradition wrangle
On Saturday, German prosecutors said the agent had been arrested on a warrant issued by Germany, as he arrived in Poland.

"It's now up to the Poles to decide if they are going to hand him over," a spokesman for the federal German prosecutor's office told AP news agency.

Israel's foreign ministry confirmed that an Israeli citizen had been arrested in Poland but gave no futher details.

A spokeswoman for Polish prosecutors told the Associated Press news agency that a suspect, identified as Uri B, had been arrested on 4 June in connection with the Dubai murder.

The German magazine Der Spiegel reports that the Israeli embassy in Warsaw has urged the Polish authorities not to extradite Mr Brodsky.

Forged passports from Britain, the Irish Republic, France, Australia, and Germany were used in the Dubai operation, leading to diplomatic rows between those countries and Israel.

The UK and Australia have expelled Israeli nationals over the forgeries.

Israel maintains that Mabhouh was in Dubai to procure rockets for Hamas to fire into Israel from Gaza.

 

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PNG: Europe targets Israel over passport misuse in Dubai hit

Ireland expelled an Israeli diplomat Tuesday, and Poland arrested an Israeli citizen on a German extradition request, as European countries stepped up shows of diplomatic protest against Israel's alleged use of their nations' passports in a January Dubai assassination of a Hamas arms dealer.

Israel does not comment on allegations that it was behind the January assassination of Mahmoud el Mabhouh in a Dubai hotel room.

In expelling an Israeli diplomat Tuesday, reported to be a Mossad official posted to Dublin, Irish Foreign Minister Michael Martin said in a statement "that the misuse of Irish passports by a state with which Ireland enjoys friendly, if sometimes frank, bilateral relations is clearly unacceptable and requires a 'firm response,'" the Los Angeles Times reported.

Poland last weekend confirmed German media reports that it had arrested an Israeli using the name "Uri Brodsky" on a German extradition request earlier this month. Brodsky is reportedly believed to have been a Mossad official involved with obtaining a German passport used by one of the members of the Dubai assassination team. Israeli news reports said he's not suspected of having been part of the team on the ground in Dubai.

Polish prosecutors will ask a Polish court to approve extraditing Brodsky to Germany, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

Australia expelled the Mossad station chief in that country last month. In March, the UK expelled an Israeli diplomat reported to be the Mossad station chief in London to protest 12 British passports used by members of the Dubai hit team.

Why does Europe seem to be stepping up persona non grata actions to protest alleged misuse of their passports in a hit that took place five months ago? "Because we are getting on the nerves of every government," one Israeli journalist speculated. "France and Germany might be next."