German media identify a suspected Mossad agent

Published today (updated) 20/06/2010 12:22

Bethlehem - Ma'an/Agencies -

A suspected Mossad agent detained in Poland last week used several cover names while in Germany, the Berlin-based Der Spiegel magazine will report in its 21 June edition.

Uri Brodsky, an Israeli citizen detained in Poland over allegations he helped Israel's spy agency assassinate a Hamas leader, used several names in Germany including Alexander Verin, according to the report.

A court in Poland is expected to rule within 30 days whether the suspected spy will be extradited to Germany, which has reportedly declined an official Israeli government request to cease its investigation.

Der Spiegel: German courts will decide in the case of the Mossad agent

[ 19/06/2010 - 04:54 PM ]

BERLIN, (PIC)-- 

Berlin decided not to intervene and to leave the judiciary to decide in the case of a Zionist Mossad agent arrested in Poland for involvement in the assassination of Hamas leader Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh, German Der Spiegel magazine said.

It explained that the decision was made at the request of the German federal prosecutor general, adding that the step would anger Israel.

The magazine in its edition to be issued on Monday confirmed that relevant ministries in Berlin agree that the file must be addressed "with strict respect for legal standards.”

In response to a question posed by Agence France-Presse, a spokesman for the German government said, "The (Der Spiegel) report was based on a meeting held in the chancellery with intelligence services.  And since this meeting is confidential, we make no comment."  The spokesman insisted that the matter should be left to the judiciary.

The Mossad agent, who Der Spiegel named Yuri Brodsky, was arrested on June 4 at the airport in Warsaw for acquiring a false German passport that was used in the assassination of Al-Mabhouh in Dubai.

Warsaw officials announced last Monday that they would request the district court to transfer the agent to Germany, which Israel wants to avoid.  Two Israeli ministers asked Poland last week to return him to Israel.

Israel denies German minister entry to Gaza

Published today 10:56

 Bethlehem - Ma'an/Agencies -

German Development Aid Minister Dirk Niebel was denied entry into the Gaza Strip as part of his Middle East tour, German and Israeli news agencies reported on Saturday evening.

According to the German-language Spiegel Online Politik, Niebel was heading to Gaza to visit a a wastewater treatment plant, financed with German aid money. The news site said talks had continued to the last moment with Israeli officials over Niebel's visit.

Speaking on the German TV network ZDF program"heute" (today) Saturday evening, Niebel expressed his anger about being denied entry, the news site wrote.

"I would have wished for a clear political signal would be sent for an opening and for transparency," said Niebel, of Germany's liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP).

"Sometimes the Israeli government does not make it easy for its friends to explain why it behaves the way it does," he added.

Niebel said that Israel's latest announcement on easing the Gaza blockade was "inadequate" and that Israel must "now deliver" on its pledge.

Beyond that, the government in Jerusalem should be "clear about how Israel, within an international context, wants to cooperate with
its friends in the future as well," the German minister said, according to the Israeli daily Haaretz.

Earlier Saturday, the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported that the German parliament is to issue a cross-party demand that Israel allow humanitarian aid to reach the Gaza Strip by sea, according to Haaretz.

The newspaper wrote that a motion opposing Israel's blockade of Gaza had the support of Chancellor Angela Merkel's government coalition parties, as well as the opposition Social Democrats (SPD) and the Green Party.

"The living conditions for the civil population in Gaza must urgently be improved," the motion reportedly stated, according to the Israeli daily.

"Israel's Gaza blockade is effectively a blockade of the United Nations," the Greens' foreign spokeswoman Kerstin Mueller told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung, adding: "This is unacceptable."

Mueller said Israel had to give the UN sea access to Gaza, so aid could be delivered "quickly and un-bureaucratically."

The motion reportedly calls upon the EU's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to facilitate negotiations between Israel and the UN.

The report follows increased European calls, demanding Israel lift its blockade of the coastal enclave and facilitate the movement of Gaza residents, after Israel raided an aid fleet destined for the Strip in international waters, killing nine Turkish activists on board, including a dual US citizen.