Ajit Randeniya

The Daily News of the 17th reported that a team of Israeli executives was arriving in Colombo to sign a bilateral agreement with the Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare Ministry of Sri Lanka to provide more job opportunities for Sri Lankans as attendants and agricultural workers in Israel.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This news is particularly interesting, and frightening at the same time, in the context of the current Sri Lankan political situation; interesting due to the background of FonsekaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s now obvious dealings with the US arm of the Zionist network and their response to his arrest, and frightening due to recent events that demonstrate other broader objectives the Israelis may be trying to achieve.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ While most Sri Lankans may be fully familiar with the Zionist financing of FonsekaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s comical bid for presidency, they may not have been exposed to the details of a recent international terrorist atrocity committed by the extremist government of Benyamin Netanyahu, and the particular methods of deception used in committing this dastardly murder.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The most recent demonstration of the callous nature of the Zionist regime took place with the murder by Mossad of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, one of the founders of the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, on January 20 at the Al Bustan Rotana Hotel in Dubai.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ What was particularly notable about the murder was the use of British, Irish, French and German passports by the 11 Mossad murderers that included a woman; six entered Dubai on British passports and three including the woman on Irish passports. The other two were carrying German and French passports. All six Britons whose passports were used are British Jews who live in Israel and hold dual citizenship.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Israeli agents have been responsible for numerous assassinations in Europe and across the Middle East over the past 40 years, often posing as citizens of other countries. There is no record of US passports been used in such operations – Israel tends to spy on its main benefactor instead- but passports of the UK, Norway, Canada, New Zealand and Australia are often used to avoid ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”red flagsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ an Israeli passport would raise (as those of a pariah nation) at airports around the world.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In 1987, Britain formally protested to Israel over the use of forged British passports, and received assurances it would not happen again. In 1996, the Mossad team captured during the botched attempt to murder the head of Hamas’ political bureau Khaled Meshaal, in Amman, had used Canadian passports to enter Jordan. In 2004 the authorities in New Zealand disclosed that Mossad was securing their countryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s passports through the Israeli Embassy in Australia, and suspended diplomatic relations with Israel after jailing two Israeli agents for possessing fake New Zealand passports.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Victor Piotrowski, the Canadian-Israeli former Mossad agent wrote graphically in his book about the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”passport factoryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ of Mossad where he claimed to have seen thousands of passports from different countries around the world, stockpiled to be used upon as need be. Stealing of passport details and identity of others including tourists and migrants who enter Israel, used with the photograph and signature of agents is said to be the modus operandi.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Dubai does not allow entry at all to holders of Israeli passports, requiring the killers other passports to gain entry; this they did with total disregard for the security and safety in the future of the holders of a passport from any of the above countries, showing total disregard for the sovereignty of other nations – including supposed ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”strategic alliesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ like Britain. Such use of stolen identity of citizens of their European and other sponsoring countries shows that these extremists have no morals and they are quite prepared ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”to bite the hand that feedsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ them.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Details of the method of al-MabhouhƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s murder suggested that the Mossad killers arrived in the emirate from Munich and Qatar, stayed in different hotels, used international routers to make phone calls and disguised themselves, knowing full well their activities would be caught on CCTV. A 27-minute edited version of the CCTV footage compiled by the Dubai Police shows the arrival of the agents in the country and at the hotel, them moving around the hotel, sometimes in disguise as tourists dressed for tennis and golf, sometimes slipping into restrooms and emerging with fake beards on their faces.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Al-Mabhouh has checked into the Al Bustan Rotana at 3.25pm on January 20, with the Mossad surveillance team in close attendance. He appears to have taken no notice of the two men who joined him in the lift during the short ride to the second floor room 230, escorted by a member of hotel staff. Unnoticed, one of the killers followed him down the corridor, clocking his room number and requesting the room 237 opposite, which became the staging post for the audacious murder. (It is common practice to grant a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”preferredƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ room at Dubai hotels.)

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The surveillance teams rotated in pairs through the hotel lobby, never hanging around for too long and paying for everything in cash. They used short-range communication devices to coordinate their movements on the ground as they tracked their victim. Throughout the operation, none of the suspects has made a direct call to any another. However, Dubai police traced a high volume of calls and text messages between three phones carried by the assassins and four numbers in Austria where a command centre had apparently been established.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ When al-Mabhouh left him room in the evening and returned at 8.24pm his killers were in place. By 8.46pm, less than 20 minutes later, the four killers are shown leaving the second floor, followed closely by their spotters in room 237. The surveillance team in the hotel lobby also disbands. Less than two hours later they are shown boarding flights to Paris, Hong Kong and South Africa before doubling back to Europe.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Al-MabhouhƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s body was not found until 1.30pm the following afternoon. The cause of death was initially believed to be an increase of blood pressure in the brain. Police believe that he was asphyxiated and there were signs of five or six electric shocks on his legs, behind his ears, on his genitals and heart. Blood on a pillow led police to believe he was suffocated.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The assassination of al-Mabhouh has thrown an unwanted spotlight on to the workings of Mossad and its killer squads known as the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”kidonƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ (Hebrew word for bayonet). This particular operation shows again that the kidon have the latest intelligence on potential targets, their movements and activities, relayed to them by Mossad spies around the world and more importantly, a system of local spies referred to as ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”sayanimƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ – or local support agents ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” who provide help on the ground near where the targets live. The sayanim are volunteers from the local Jewish communities around the world; they can be running a car rental business, managing a hotel or even driving taxis, with access to key details of travel, business and consumption information of almost every one.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The sayanim element in this case appears to have been particularly important. It could not have been good fortune of the killers that no security camera covered the door to al-MabhouhƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s room, making footage on how the team gained entry to the room not available. It is known that they gained entry to his room using an acquired key card (to avoid a break in), with the woman member posing as a hotel employee, requiring hotel uniforms. Hotel records show that at 8pm an attempt was made to re-programme the lock to his door. These key facts point to possible help from within the hotel. Police have also arrested two Palestinians who may have provided logistical support to the murderers.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ What is interesting about this murder, like the failed attempt on Meshaal’s life is that ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”targeted murdersƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ appear to have resurfaced as a serious tactic against Israel’s opponents again while Netanyahu is at the helm of Israel’s government.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”combat doctrineƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ for this type of operation holds that assassinating the leaders of a group can have a strategic impact through a severe blow to the organisation. Since the 1960s, Israel has liquidated hundreds of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”terroristsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ who were members of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ But the assassinations of the PLO’s Abu Jihad (1988), Islamic Jihad leader Fathi Shikaki (1995) and Hezbollah’s Imad Mughniyeh (2008), though they dealt blows to their respective organisations, did not cause them to collapse. Al-Mabhouh himself acquired his last job, which he performed with great success, following the 2006 assassination of his predecessor, Iz a-Din al-Sheikh Khalil, in Damascus. The assassination of a mid-level operative like Mabhouh is unlikely to stop Hamas activities.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The morale of the story is that the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”invitationƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ to Sri Lankan farm workers may be directed more at obtaining passports, language skills and even paid spies to carry out sabotage activities against Iran due to the friendly relations between Iran and Sri Lanka. Developing close relations with potential recruits would be compulsory for such operations and the Fonseka example shows that there are plenty of people prepared to take risks for the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”right priceƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. Exposing the gullible to such risks could be prevented to a certain extent by the government not fully sanctioning foreign employment in this particular country.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Speaking of military agents, Lebanon’s military prosecuted a senior army officer, Lt. Col. Ghazwan Shaheen for collaborating with Israel, and providing confidential information that helped the Jewish state to strike targets in Lebanon during its 2006 war against Lebanon. Shaheen could face the death penalty if convicted.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Sarath Fonseka is luckier, comparatively speaking!