The uk passports used by a hit squad

The uk passports used by a hit squad that killed a Hamas leader in Dubai were secretly copied by Israeli border police, British ministers believe. Diplomatic sources have told the Sunday Mirror they are convinced officials at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport took away and copied the passports of six Britons who unwittingly became involved in the assassination plot.

The revelation comes as the Foreign Office, the Serious Organised Crime Squad and MI6 continue their investigation into how the killers of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh obtained details of the Brits for their fake documents.

The disclosure will pile further pressure on Israel to explain the suspected involvement of its spy agency Mossad in the murder of Mr al-Mabhouh, 49, in his Dubai hotel room on January 19 just hours after he arrived there.

It could also spark a major row between Britain and Israel as Foreign Secretary David Miliband plans to raise the issue in talks with EU foreign leaders tomorrow.

He labelled the identity thefts an “outrage” and has vowed to press for answers on the killing masterminded by the hit squad who were posing as tourists.

A senior British diplomatic source revealed: “We believe the innocent British citizens involved had their passports taken away and copied when they were going through the airport.” The disclosure came during debriefs of the Britons who revealed how they had recently had long waits at Ben Gurion while their passports were taken away for checks.

The hit squad did not alter the names and numbers in the passports, but the photographs were switched. All six Britons – Paul John Keeley, 42, Melvyn Adam Mildiner, 31, Jonathan Louis Graham, 31, Stephen Daniel Hodes, 37, Michael Lawrence Barney, 54, James Leonard Clarke, 49 – deny any involvement and have been issued with new passports to help them avoid any risk of arrest.

The British Government has angrily denied it had any advance warning of the murder plot. Because they have copied British Tourist pasaports those who been to israel for a holiday or a visit.

But if the Israeli secret services were behind the execution of the Hamas leader in Dubai, they have much to answer for. The suspects used the fake passports bearing their own pictures, but with the names and numbers of innocent Europeans.

All six British passports were not biometric, which means they did not have a computer chip embedded in them. Experts told the newspaper the fraud would have been relatively simple to carry out.