The European Union is expected to issue a statement Monday condemning the use of European passports - some of them forged - during the assassination of Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai last month.
According to a senior European diplomatic source, the statement will not directly cite Israel, nor is it expected to link Israel with the assassination or the forging of passports.
The diplomat said EU ambassadors had been summoned for consultations by Foreign Ministry officials in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
During the meeting, Abu Dhabi officials requested that EU foreign ministers, who will convene in Brussels on Monday for a conference, issue a communique over the use of European passports in the Mabhouh operation. The UAE is also demanding an explicit EU statement supporting the Emirates' authorities who are investigating the case.
According to the European source, the UAE government did not blame Israel for carrying out the assassination nor did it request that Israel be cited in the EU statement.
The source added that senior officials from Germany, France, Britain, Ireland and the EU met Sunday to agree on the language of the statement. Ireland is advocating the hardest line among all EU members by demanding that the statement explicitly refer to Israel.
Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said Sunday that police in Dubai are "99 percent certain" that the Mossad, Israel's spy agency, carried out the operation. Martin is expected to meet with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman in Brussels on Monday.
Lieberman is likely to face tough questions from his EU counterparts. Aside from Martin, he is also scheduled to meet with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, who has requested clarifications over whether Israel is responsible for the assassination.
Both Miliband and Martin have made strong statements in recent days condemning the forging of passports and theft of identities. It is unclear what message Lieberman will offer at the meetings, though sources say the foreign minister is likely to claim that no evidence exists tying Israel to the hit.
Lieberman is also likely to call on the authorities in Dubai to specify the cause of death to determine whether Mabhouh was killed or died of natural causes. The foreign minister is also due to sit down with his counterparts from Germany and France.
According to the European source, the communique will include three key elements: the EU's condemnation of the use of European passports by members of the assassination team, an expression of support for the UAE government and investigators in Dubai, and a commitment to investigate the passport forgeries and theft identities as quickly as possible.
Discussions over the wording of the statement are expected to continue until Monday evening, by when it is likely to be released.
Meanwhile, the commander of the Dubai police revealed additional details about the January 20 assassination.
The police official, Dahi Khalfan, said the police had information that would not be disclosed currently but which related to the use by some of the assassins of diplomatic passports to enter Dubai.
The Dubai police chief added that some of the hit squad had been in the emirate for at least a year before the killing and used the same passports. He made the remarks to Al-Bayan, a newspaper published in the UAE.
Khalfan said the information that led to the killing of Mabhouh came from an associate of a senior Hamas official, according to a statement published in another UAE newspaper, Al-Khaleej. Khalfan has been reported as saying the associate gave information about Mabhouh's arrival in Dubai.
Over the weekend, Hamas officials criticized Mabhouh's conduct. Hamas legislator Salah Bardawil said Mabhouh endangered himself by ordering airline tickets over the Internet and said the senior Hamas official even notified Mabhouh's family about where in Dubai Mabhouh was staying. Mabhouh's brother, however, denied that the family had received such information. For their part, Hamas spokesmen denied the Dubai police chief's account.
One spokesman, Sami Abu Zahari, denied there was an informant in Hamas. Another senior Hamas official criticized the Dubai authorities for failing to sufficiently involve the group in their investigation.
Moreover, Arab media reported yesterday that the UAE has asked Egypt to officially lodge a protest with Israel over the assassination as well as the alleged participation of two Palestinians who were arrested in connection with the hit.
Abu Dhabi's national security adviser met over the weekend with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. UAE officials said the arrested Palestinians were former members of the Palestinian Authority security apparatus.
