Israeli agents carried out hit say police as ambassador is grilled

While the Israeli ambassador was grilled at the Foreign Office, Dubai's Dahi Khalfan Tamim said he was "99 per cent certain" Mossad agents were "standing behind the murder" of Hamas military leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.

The assassins are accused of using the cloned passports of six innocent dual British-Israeli citizens to enter the United Arab Emirates then mount a dramatic cloak-and-dagger murder operation before fleeing the country.

The Government has so far refused to criticise Israel over the assassination, carried out in a Dubai hotel room by a team at least 11 strong, despite fears that the use of the fake documents has put the lives of the Britons affected at risk.

But demands for a firmer public stance are certain to intensify after the comments by Mr Tamim, who is leading the murder inquiry.

He is reported as saying: "Our investigations reveal that Mossad is involved in the murder of al-Mabhouh. It is 99 per cent, if not 100 per cent, that Mossad is standing behind the murder."

His allegation came as Israel's ambassador Ron Prosor was today questioned in Whitehall by Sir Peter Ricketts, head of Britain's diplomatic service, over his country's involvement.

After the meeting Foreign Secretary David Miliband declined to blame Mossad but said Mr Prosor had been told that the Government "hoped and expected" Tel Aviv will cooperate fully with Britain's investigation into the use of fake passports, which is being led by the Serious Organised Crime Agency.

He said he was determined to "get to the bottom" of the matter and added: "Any interference with British passports is an outrage. The integrity of the system is critical. The fraudulent use of British passports is an extremely serious issue."

In a statement issued after the meeting, at which Mr Miliband was not present, Mr Prosor said: "I was unable to shed any further light on the events in question."

Conservative leader David Cameron said: "At the very least, we need some assurances about the future to make sure that whatever has happened in the past can't happen again, and I would expect the Government to ask some pretty tough questions." And shadow foreign secretary William Hague said "fuller" answers were needed about when the Foreign Office first became aware that "cloned" UK passports were used in the assassination plot.

His demand follows reports in the Gulf suggesting that British ministers may have been alerted to the possibility by Dubai authorities last month.

Al-Mabhouh died in his hotel room near Dubai international airport on 20 January. It is claimed that he was suffocated.

All of the 11 suspects — who also included three using Irish passports and two with French and German identities — are said to have left the UAE within 19 hours of their arrival.

Dublin authorities confirmed that numbers on the Irish passports were legitimate but did not match records for the names which were used.

In a further sign of mounting international anger today, the Dublin government also called in Israel's ambassador Zion Evrony.

After an hour-long meeting with diplomat David Cooney, Mr Evrony insisted: "I told him I don't know anything about the event."