Middle East Inside Line: Row over Dubai Assassination, Palestine Authority to Re-Start Talks?

Pressing Israel on Dubai Assassination: Following the use of French, British, German and Irish passports by the suspected assassins of Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai, European states demanded further clarifications from Israel. Israeli diplomatic opinion is split, with some worrying about the image of Israel whilst others think the crisis will vanish soon. "At this stage, there is no evidence linking Israel to the incident, and if that continues, the affair will subside quickly," one senior Israeli official predicted.

Interpol published wanted notices and images on Thursday of the 11 people in the suspected hit squad. Dubai Police Chief Lt.-Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim called on Interpol to seek the arrest of Meir Dagan, urging it to issue a “red notice against the head of Mossad.”

Hamas said the two Palestinians arrested in the killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh are former members of the rival Fatah movement's security forces, with links to Fatah's senior security official Mohammed Dahlan. Haaretz also says that the two Palestinians were at one time members of the Palestinian Authority's security forces in Gaza, but only after Hamas took over the Strip in June 2007. Dahlan and Fatah deny the charges.



Palestinian Authority to Restart Talks? Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger, after a visit to Ramallah, told Israeli officials that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas would start indirect talks with Israel next week, according to a senior government source in West Jerusalem.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, speaking to a delegation of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in Jenin, complained about Israeli incursions. He said:

While there is interest on both sides in promoting Palestinian development and progressing toward statehood, Israel’s military operations in PA-controlled areas not only run operational risks, but they undermine our credibility and standing. We need actions taken by the Israelis to be consistent with the notion of a state in evolution.