Israel denies diplomatic "crisis" with Europe over Dubai killing

Feb 20, 2010, 14:32 GMT

Jerusalem/Brussels - Diplomatic ties between Israel and European countries have not been plunged into a crisis over the Dubai assassination of a Hamas official, Israel Deputy Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said Saturday.

The murder of Mahbouh al-Mahbouh on January 20 has been widely attributed to Mossad, a claim that Israel denies.

'I don't forsee a crisis with European allies', Ayalon said in the Israeli city of Rehovot, repeating that there was no link between Israel and the killing.

Ayalon made this comments two days before an official visit of the Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman to Europe.

Lieberman is to hold meetings with European counterparts amid the accusations against the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad of faking the passports of six British, three Irish, one German and one French citizens to carry on the assassination.

'Britain, France and Germany all share our interests in the battle against global terror, therefore there will be no crisis,' Ayalon said. 'Instead, our relations will continue to deepen,' he added.

Dubai police released this week the names and photos of 11 suspects and said he is '99 per-cent certain' that Israel's secret service, Mossad, was responsible for the operation, even though the Israeli government said it was 'not correct to assume' so.

Lieberman's agenda on Monday includes talks with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Belgian Foreign Minister Stefan Vanackere, as well as a meeting with European Parliament president Jerzy Buzek.

In the evening, he is scheduled to have an 'informal' dinner with the EU's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, an EU official added. The talks would focus on the Iran nuclear threat, the Middle East peace process and EU-Israel relations.

Allegations against Israel on the use of fake foreign passports provoked expressions of outrage from the EU countries concerned this week.