European Union slams Israel, condemns Dubai murder

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has condemned the assassination of Hamas leader Mahmoud Al Mabhouh in a hotel here and insisted "nothing positive" comes of such killings.

Sarkozy expressed France's irrevocable condemnation of the killing during a telephone conversation with UAE Foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan "in the territories of a country that works for peace and cooperation among nations and peoples".

He said that the Israeli charge d'affaires in Paris was summoned over the use of a fake French passport.

"Nothing can justify these methods," he was quoted as saying by the UAE's news agency Wam. Meanwhile, the European Union's Foreign Affairs Council has issued a statement welcoming investigations by the Dubai authorities over the killing and called on all countries to cooperate with it.

In a statement released today, it said: "The killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai on 20 January raises issues which are profoundly disturbing to the European Union. This was an action which cannot be conducive to peace and stability in the Middle East.

"The EU strongly condemns the fact that those involved in this action have used fraudulent EU Member States' passports and credit cards acquired through the theft of EU citizens' identities."  the EU statement also welcomed the investigation by
the Dubai authorities and called on all countries to cooperate with it.

"The countries concerned in the EU are themselves carrying out full investigations into the fraudulent use of their passports. The EU is committed to ensuring that both EU citizens and countries around the world continue to have confidence in the integrity of EU Member States' passports in the EU.

"It believes that its passports remain among the most secure in the world fully meeting all international standards. EU Member States' passports include a range of physical security measures to prevent forgery and abuse," it said.