The fallout from Mossad’s use of British passports in a murder operation is spreading ever wider with new allegations emerging by the day. The Daily Mail today, for example, reports a claim that Mossad tipped off Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, notably MI6, that it was planning an overseas operation using British passports, before the killing of Hamas official Mahmud Al-Mabhouh.
In a bizarre twist to the affair that has direct implications for the government’s efforts to combat radicalism amongst British Muslims, the Mail quoted a Mossad agent who denied that the Dubai brouhaha would derail collaboration between Britain’s intelligence agents and their Israeli counterparts. According to the (naturally) anonymous agent, Mossad is handling several sources within Britain’s Muslim community. “There is no question of jeopardising that information flow,” he added.
A leading member of the Muslim community in Britain was staggered at this claim. “If it is corroborated that the British authorities are using Mossad, of all agencies, to spy on British Muslims, of course it is a matter of huge concern,” he said, adding that this would be one more nail in the coffin of the government’s efforts to secure the trust and confidence of the Muslim community to combat terrorism.
Meanwhile the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has denied any advance knowledge of the Dubai operation. An FCO spokesman said: “Any suggestion that we knew anything about the murder in Dubai before it happened, including knowledge about the misuse of British passports, is completely untrue.”