The Middle East

E.U. Condemns Use of Forged Passports in Hamas Commander Assassination

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BRUSSELS, Belgium – European Union foreign ministers released a statement on February 22, saying they have “strongly condemned” the use of forged European passports by the alleged assassins of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a Hamas commander, in Dubai in January 2010. While the statement made no reference to Israel, it is widely assumed that the Mossad, Israel’s secret intelligence service, was behind the killing.

Al-Mabhouh was murdered in his hotel room in Dubai on January 19. On February 15, Dubai police released closed-circuit video from the hotel that showed dramatic footage of the eleven suspected assassins, all with forged European passports—six British, three Irish, one French, and one German. It later emerged that the hit-squad had stolen the identities of innocent people, seven of whom have dual Israeli citizenship and currently live in Israel.

Israeli officials have neither confirmed nor denied their country’s involvement with the assassination. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman met with his counterparts at the European Union headquarters in Brussels after the E.U. statement was released. Michael Martin, the Irish Foreign Minister, told the press that Mr. Lieberman did not have any additional information on the assassination.

“He didn’t deny it,” said Mr. Martin, “but I don’t want that to be construed one way or the other. He said he didn’t have any information.”

On the Israeli Foreign Ministry website, a statement said that Mr. Lieberman told Mr. Martin that no report linked Israel with the assassination. The statement went on to say that if and when a report does so, beyond media reports, Israel would respond.

The incident has held ordinary Israelis to question the ethics of the Mossad. Israelis take pride in the organization’s stealth and ability to quietly take out what it believes are enemies of Israel, yet the use of Israeli citizens’ passports has thrown that pride into question. Many Israelis are immigrants from European countries and continue to hold passports from their countries of origin.

There are plenty of people who would have been willing to cooperate with that kind of a mission. So if they’re using these people’s identities unbeknownst to them, then it’s very problematic,” said Jean-Marc Liling, a Swiss-French human rights lawyer now living in Israel. “Using people’s identities without their consent is really intolerable.”

For more information, please see:

BBC News – EU Condemns Passport Use in Dubai Killing – 22 February 2010

The National (UAE) – Europe Condemns Stolen Identities Used in al Mabhouh Killing – 22 February 2010

New York Times – E.U. Decries Passport Use by Assassins – 22 February 2010

Christian Science Monitor – Israelis Ponder Mossad Ethics, Role in Dubai Hamas Assassination – 18 February 2010

Lebanon Indicts Militants for Plotting Terrorist Attacks

By Brandon Kaufman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BEIRUT, Lebanon– On Wednesday, a Lebanese military judge indicted 11 suspected members of an al-Qaeda inspired group with plotting terrorist attacks and monitoring U.N. peacekeeper movements, judicial officials said.

Military judge Samih Hajj charged the men with planning bombings against civilian targets and undermining the state.  A judicial source requesting anonymity told reporters that “Judge al-Hajj charged 11 suspected members of Fatah-al-Islam with forming an armed gang, spying on the army and United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) troops (in southern Lebanon), and forging ID papers.”

If convicted, they could face the death penalty.  Among those charged, six are in custody while five still remain at large.  Two of the individuals who remain at large are Abdul Rahman Awad and Abdul Ghani Jawar, two Fatah al-Islam members accused of a deadly 2008 bus bombing in the northern city of Tripoli which killed 18 people, mostly soldiers.

Dozens of al-Qaeda inspired militants have been captured and charged in Lebanon during recent years.  The majority of those individuals are from the Fatah al-Islam group that fought a bloody three month battle against the Lebanese army in the summer of 2007 in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared near Tripoli.

The fighting killed more than 400 people including some 200 militants, 170 soldiers and 47 civilians.  In addition, close to 30,000 refugees were displaced after the camp was leveled during the fighting.

In June 2007, six peacekeepers of the UNIFIL were killed by a bombing in southern Lebanon while the Nahr al-Bared clashes raged.  At the time, Lebanese officials pointed the finger at Fatah al-Islam for the incident.

Since the Nahr al-Bared battle, there has been widespread speculation that the group has switched its base to the highly volatile Palestinian camp of Ain al-Hilweh in southern Lebanon.  Lebanese officials believe that Awad, who has been termed the “prince of Fatah al-Islam,” is holed up at Ain al-Hilweh, the largest of Lebanon’s 12 Palestinian camps.  However, because of longstanding agreement, the Lebanese army does not enter the camps, leaving security inside to Palestinian sanctions.

For more information, please see:

AFP- Lebanon Charges al Qaeda Linked Suspects with Spying– 17 February 2010

Reuters- Death Penalty Sought for Qaeda Suspects in Lebanon– 17 February 2010

The Wall Street Journal- Lebanon Charges 11 for Plotting Terrorist Attacks– 17 February 2010

UN’s Nuclear Watchdog Worried about Iran

By Bobby Rajabi
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

VIENNA, Austria – On February 18 the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the nuclear watchdog of the United Nations, announced that they were concerned that Iran was working on a nuclear warhead. The IAEA, based in Vienna, has been investigating for a number of years reports claiming that the Islamic Republic was involved in weapons research. Based on the UN’s announcement, the United States has voiced renewed concern in Iran’s nuclear program.
The report was prepared by the thirty five members of the IAEA. The chief of the agency, Yukiya Amano, explained that “the information available to the agency…raises concerns about the possible existence in Iran of past or current undisclosed activities related to the development of a nuclear payload for a missile.” The report differs greatly from a US report that said that Iran had suspended such activities in 2003.
Iran continues to deny any interest in developing nuclear weapons. However, the report suggests that Iran’s continual attempts to avoid agency probes for signs of a cover-up “give rise to concerns about possible military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear program.” Additionally, the report suggest that intelligence supplied by the United States and other IAEA member states on Iran’s attempts to mask their activity under the guise of a civilian program in order to move towards a weapons program was compelling.
The report was the first by Yukiya Amano and appears to be more directly critical than those prepared by his predecessor, Mohammed El Baradei. It will be put forth to the governing body at a March 15. The report also reiterated evidence that Iran appeared to have tested ways of detonating weapons. It also described the escalating steps taken by Iran, including enrichment to twenty percent, its acknowledgement of an enrichment plant in Qom, its effort to metalize uranium and Iran’s rejection of a plan to enrich uranium outside the country.
The IAEA report calls for Iran to cooperate with IAEA investigators “without further delay.” Iran’s resistance has added to concerns “about possible military dimensions” in the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.
For more information, please see:
 
BBC – Iran Nuclear Missile Fear Raised by UN Report – 18 February 2010
New York Times – IAEA Suspects Iranian Weapons Nuclear Weapons Activity – 18 February 2010

U.N.: Israeli Blockade on Gaza Tightening

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

GAZA CITY, Gaza – The United Nations released a report on February 17 saying that Israel has tightened its blockade on the Gaza Strip, and reiterated its call for Israel to immediately open the territory to allow much-needed humanitarian supplies into Gaza.  The U.N. document was the latest in a string of calls from humanitarian groups both in and outside of Gaza, claiming that conditions in the Gaza Strip are worsening as the cost of shipping supplies into Gaza has skyrocketed.

Israel began its blockade on Gaza three years ago, after the Islamist party Hamas was voted into office in the Gaza legislature, ousting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah Party.  Israel has refused to recognize the Hamas government or any official contact with the government in Gaza.  The blockade became noticeably tighter after the Israeli military’s Operation Cast Lead during the winter of 2008-2009.  Since the end of open hostilities in January 2009, Israel has allowed minimal shipments into Gaza for food, medicines, and other basic necessities. 

But critics have claimed that the trickle of supplies is insufficient to meet the needs of those living in Gaza.  Operation Cast Lead destroyed or damaged fifteen of Gaza’s twenty-seven hospitals, as well as forty-three of Gaza’s one hundred-ten health-care facilities.  The offensive flattened much of the Gaza infrastructure, and Gazans have been unable to get construction supplies through the blockade.  The blockade also extends out to sea, as Gazan fishermen have been limited to only a few square miles of their once-expansive fishing grounds, leaving that portion of the Mediterranean Sea almost completely empty of fish.

Additionally, the Gaza Energy Authority, the sole energy supplier in Gaza, announced on February 13 that it was unable to get ample fuel through the blockade and was uncertain whether it would be able to continue supplying energy for more than the next twenty-four hours.  As it released its statement, it had already shut down a generator and its output was at fifty percent.

Gazan health organizations also reported that 386 Gazans have died as a result of the blockade so far.  The assembly of health unions in Gaza told journalists on February 18 that several Palestinian children have died of suffocation because of malfunctioning power generators.

For more information, please see:

Al-Jazeerah – Health Unions Warn of Israeli Blockade Impacts on Lives of Gaza Patients – 18 February 2010

Zee News – Israel Blocks Gaza Strip Further:  United Nations – 18 February 2010

UN News Centre – Israel Tightens Vice on Gaza Strip, UN Reports – 17 February 2010

Digital Journal – Gaza Pleads for an End to the Israeli Blockade of Fuel Supplies – 13 February 2010

Yemeni Release Saudi Captive

By Ahmad Shihadah

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SA’NA, Yemen – Northern rebels in Yemen handed over a captured Saudi soldier captured to Yemeni government mediators, the latest sign that a six-year-old conflict is calming down.

The Saudi Press Agency quoted Saudi ambassador to Yemen Ali al-Hamdan as saying the soldier was brought from the northern province of Sa’ada, the rebel stronghold, to the embassy in Sa’na by helicopter. He will be sent back to Saudi Arabia later, the ambassador said.

A Yemeni official said the soldier was handed over to a committee, which supervises a cease-fire reached last week between Yemeni government and the Shi’ite rebels, known as Houthis. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

Last month, Yemen’s Shi’ite rebels offered Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, a truce and said they had left the kingdom’s territory. Riyadh later declared victory over the rebels.

In addition to fighting the rebels, Yemen is battling southern separatists and al Qaeda, which has made the country its regional base. The Nigerian accused of trying to blow up a U.S. passenger plane in December had links to Yemen.

Riyadh and Western powers fear impoverished Yemen may become a failed state and that al Qaeda could exploit the chaos to use the country as a base for attacks in the region and beyond.

For More Information, Please See:

 

Al-Jazeera – Yemen Houthis Free Saudi Captive – 15 February 2010

 

AP – Yemeni Rebels Release Saudi Soldier – 15 February 2010


The Washington Post – Yemen Rebels Hand Over One Saudi Soldier: Al Jazeera – 15 February 2010


BCC – Yemen Rebels Begin Handover of Saudi Arabian Soldiers – February 2010