Haaretz
Mahmoud al-Mabhouh
Uri Brodsky arrested in Warsaw for allegedly obtaining forged German passport involved in Hamas strongman hit, AFP reports; Foreign ministry confirms Israeli citizen arrested in Poland.Polish authorities arrested an alleged Mossad agent suspected of attaining German passports involved in the assassination of Hamas strongman Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai in January, according to Der Spiegel cited by French news agency AFP on Saturday.
"He was arrested in Warsaw and is suspected of being involved in illegally obtaining a [German] passport," AFP cited a spokesman for German federal prosecution to German magazine Der Spiegel.
"It's now up to the Poles to decide if they are going to hand him over to Germany," the spokesman said.
The foreign ministry confirmed that an Israeli citizen was arrested earlier in June in Poland, and said that the Israeli consulate in Warsaw has been in contact with the man and has received continuous updates on his condition since the arrest.
The ministry added that the suspect has received consulate assistance like every Israel arrested abroad.
Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was killed in January when a team of assassins broke into his hotel room and killed him silently, leaving a 'do not disturb' sign on the door. The hotel security cameras caught images of the alleged killers sharing an elevator ride with Mabhouh prior to the assassination.
Since the killing, Dubai police have identified over 32 suspects, releasing photos of 27 people who were allegedly involved in the assassination based on alleged forged passports.
The Mossad has been implicated by the Dubai police as having masterminded the assassination, but Israel has said there is no proof tying Mossad to the incident.
The Der Spiegel article, which is expected to be published on Monday, said the Israeli suspect Uri Brodsky was arrested in early June on arrival at Warsaw's airport.
Brodsky is suspected by German authorities to have helped a member of the hit squad obtain a German passport in June 2009.
In February, German intelligence services investigating the assassination of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai claimed one of the suspected members of the assassination team carried a genuine German passport, according to reports Saturday in German media outlets.
According to the findings of German federal investigators, in June 2009 an Israeli man named Michael Bodenheimer - who shares the name of an alleged member of the Dubai hit squad - came to immigration officials in Cologne with the pre-World War II address of his grandparents.
Bodenheimer acquired German citizenship on the basis of this data.
After his name was listed as one of the suspected members of the Dubai assassination squad, Bodenheimer, who lives in Bnei Brak and is of American origin, said that he did not know how his identity was stolen.
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