Envoy summoned over 'hit squad'

Passports in the names of six British Israelis were among 11 European identity papers revealed by Dubai police hunting the hit squad which allegedly killed Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai on January 20.

Last night the Foreign Office said that, given the links to Israel of a number of the British nationals affected, there would be a meeting with the Israeli Ambassador today.

The move came after Prime Minister Gordon Brown promised a full investigation.

There have been claims that Israel's security service Mossad was behind the murder.

Some of the individuals concerned have denied any involvement in the operation.

The Foreign Office statement said: "The defrauding of British passports is a very serious issue. The Government will continue to take all the action that is necessary to protect British nationals from identity fraud."

The Government was doing a number of things, it said, including providing support to the British nationals and ensuring a full investigation was carried out into the fraudulent use of the passports. The Serious Organised Crime Agency would lead the investigation, in close cooperation with Dubai authorities.

Today's meeting is expected to be between the Foreign Office Permanent Under Secretary Sir Peter Ricketts – head of the diplomatic service – and Israeli ambassador Ron Prosor. The Foreign Office said it had been called because of the links to Israel of a number of the British nationals affected

Earlier yesterday Mr Brown said: "We have got to carry out a full investigation into this. The British passport is an important document that has got to be held with care."

He insisted the full facts had to be gathered before any further Government statement.

Last night the Serious Organised Crime Agency confirmed it was investigating and added: "We can confirm that the photographs and signatures on the passports used in Dubai do not match those of the passports issued by the UK."

Israel's foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman said there was no evidence of a link to Israeli intelligence agency Mossad but refused to issue any formal denial in line with a "policy of ambiguity" on security matters.

But senior British MPs said Israel's history of assassinating Hamas members pointed to its possible involvement.

Former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell said Israeli involvement would be "a serious violation of trust between nations".

The Labour chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, Mike Gapes, said the case raised a "big concern".

The assassination was either carried out by Israel "or someone trying to make sure it looks like the Israelis", he said, suggesting only a few countries had the capacity for such an operation.

Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague, MP for Richmond, raised the matter in a letter to Foreign Secretary David Miliband, saying: "The reports that the identities of real British citizens have been 'cloned' to produce forged passports is a matter of great concern, since it raises the possibility that this could happen in other cases, including acts of terrorism."

Israel-based Melvyn Mildiner, 31, who holds a British and Israeli passport that matches one released by Dubai police, said he had never been to Dubai and Kent-born Paul Keeley, 42, a builder who has lived on a kibbutz in northern Israel for the past 15 years, said he had not left Israel for two years.