Dubai suspects 'had fake passports'

Britain and Ireland have said that the passports used by nine people suspected of the killing of a senior Hamas figure in the United Arab Emirates are believed to be fake. The nine passport holders are alleged members of an 11-person hit squad which Dubai police have said that they want to question over the murder of Mahmud al-Mabhouh in a Dubai hotel room on January 20. A spokesman for Britain's foreign office said on Tuesday: "We are aware that the holders of six British passports have been named in this case. "We believe the passports used were fraudulent and have begun our own investigation." Earlier, the Irish foreign affairs department said it had checked the details of the three purported Irish passport holders provided by the Dubai police and found them also to be false.