Murder in Dubai

There is nothing new about the Israeli army killing Palestinian leaders living in the Occupied territories. It has eliminated several Hamas leaders in covert operations, including the movement's near-blind, wheelchair-bound founder and spiritual leader Sheikh Yasin.
Israelis have tried to eliminate Syria-based Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal as well, albeit unsuccessfully. None of this has bothered Western governments, who are in the habit of equating the oppressor with the oppressed, justifying Hamas leaders' assassination as a reaction to the armed Palestinian struggle against the Occupation.
But this time even they might find it difficult to defend the murder of Mahmoud al Mabhouh by 11 Israeli agents, who arrived in Dubai travelling on passports they had stolen from British, Irish and French nationals, thus implicating some of Israel's European friends as well.
The police in Dubai are unwilling to relent, not only because the victim, found strangulated to death in his hotel room on January 20, was a fellow Arab, but because its reputation as a Middle Eastern hub of economic and social activities is at stake. The Dubai police chief called for Interpol "to issue a red notice against the head of Mossad as a killer in case Mossad is proved to be behind the crime, which is likely now."
For Israel the murder is a routine job. Usually, unlike other Middle Eastern countries, it need not fear the powerful Western nations' condemnation. However, this time, an international row has ensued with Paris, London, and Dublin demanding explanations from Israel on why passport details of their citizens had been used by the suspected-hit squad last month.
Britain summoned the Israeli ambassador to London for a meeting with the head of its diplomatic service, to explain how several UK citizens, living in Israel, found their passport details used by the alleged killers while Prime Minister Gordon Brown launched an investigation into the "fraudulent use" of British passports. Paris, too, demanded that Israel explain how an apparently forged French passport had been used by the suspected assassins. Dublin followed suit, for a similar explanation.
Israel, however, has stuck to a policy of ambiguity on operations by Mossad, refusing to confirm or deny that its agents had murdered Mahmoud al Mabhouh. Although Mossad is widely believed to have stepped up covert missions against Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah, as well as Iran's nuclear project, Lieberman said the use of the identities of foreign-born Israelis, by the suspects, did not prove Mossad's involvement.
To mollify the already enflamed perceptions of Western prejudice of Muslim countries and blatant favour of Israeli policies, the European countries must pursue efforts to uncover the true identities of the perpetrators who used their passports - forged or real. Let the British and European countries involved show their sense of justice by respecting Dubai's desire to punish the killers, co-operating with the International manhunt it has launched to nab them.