Passport report in, but no decisions
FOREIGN Minister Stephen Smith has said he will not rush his response to an Australian Federal Police (AFP) report into the alleged misuse of four Australian passports in the assassination of Hamas terror chief Mahmoud al-Mabhouh .
FOREIGN Minister Stephen Smith has said he will not rush his response to an Australian Federal Police (AFP) report into the alleged misuse of four Australian passports in the assassination of Hamas terror chief Mahmoud al-Mabhouh .
The AFP investigation, which saw three officers travel to Israel, was completed recently, with Smith receiving the findings last Friday.
The Foreign Minister said he had looked at the report, but was not ready to make any decisions.
“I haven’t yet had the opportunity of very carefully considering that, but it’s clear from a preliminary assessment of that report that I need to get further advice and see further work and have further discussion with other agencies,” he told Channel Nine.
He said he would be discussing the report with Australia’s two premier security agencies — the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and the Australian Secret Intelligence Service — before making any decisions.
“When that work has been done, and I’ve had the chance to fully consider, not just the AFP report, but also that further work and advice from other agencies, then I’ll make the detail of the government’s deliberations about this matter public.”
Responding to whether the Australian investigation was taking too long, Smith said he wanted to be sure of the facts.
“I need further work done by our intelligence agencies and I’m going to get this right rather than rush it in any way. It’s a very important issue. It has very significant ramifications for use of passports and our relationships with a number of countries, and I’m not proposing to be rushed. I want the exhaustive work to be done carefully and properly.”
The investigation was launched in late February after forged passports in the names of Australian-born Israelis were discovered by Dubai police. Fingers were pointed at Israel’s Mossad secret service, with Smith calling Israel’s Ambassador to Australia Yuval Rotem to Parliament for an explanation and asking for his cooperation.
Last month, Britain expelled an Israeli diplomat after completing its own investigation into forged passports in the names of British-born Israelis.
AJN STAFF
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