'Australia forges passports too' - Julie Bishop: Israel-Dubai assassination scandal

Deputy opposition leader Julie Bishop says Australia’s security agencies engage in passport forgery - the very practice that prompted the Rudd Government to expel an Israeli diplomat. Ms Bishop became embroiled in the fake passports scandal after calling yesterday's expulsion an over-reaction. She told Fairfax Media: It would be naive to think that Israel is the only country in the world that has used forged passports, including Australian passports, for security operations. When asked directly if Australian intelligence agencies forge passports, Ms Bishop a former cabinet minister in the Howard government replied yes. The fake passports controversy erupted after the January murder of top Hamas arms dealer Mahmoud Al-Mabouh in a Dubai hotel room. Four of the suspects in the assassination travelled on Australian passports in the names of four dual Australian-Israeli citizens. Yesterday, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith ordered a diplomat at the Israeli embassy to leave after concluding that Israel was responsible for the forgeries..... www.theage.com.au AUSTRALIA has forged passports for use on overseas missions, the opposition's foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop says. The opposition has criticised the federal government for taking action against Israel over the Jewish state's used forged Australian passports in an organised hit on Hamas operative Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai in January..... Ms Bishop said the expulsion had minimal consequences and had barely rated a ...

Channel: YouTube Video Length: 4m 34s Date Found: Tue, May 25 2010 8:20 AM Category: News Date Produced: Tue, May 25 2010 7:52 AM View Count: 0