A POLISH judge ordered the extradition to Germany yesterday of an alleged Israeli Mossad agent over claims he was linked to the killing of the founder of Hamas.
The January 20 assassination in Dubai of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh angered Britain, France, Germany, Ireland and Australia after the team of assassins – widely believed to be from Israeli spy agency Mossad – were found to have used 26 forged passports.
London, Canberra and Dublin each expelled an Israeli diplomat over the scandal.
Seven masked and heavily armed Polish anti-terrorist police officers escorted Uri Brodsky into the Warsaw court for the closed-door hearing. He was in handcuffs and his face was covered.
“The court has decided to hand over Uri Brodsky to German authorities for judicial procedures there,” Warsaw regional court judge Tomasz Calkiewicz said after the hearing.
Germany issued an international arrest warrant for Mr Brodsky several weeks ago. He was arrested by Polish authorities on an international arrest warrant at Warsaw airport on June 4 on suspicion of obtaining a German passport by fraudulent means.
The passport was used by people involved in the Dubai hit on Mabhouh, the founder of the military wing of Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip.
The court said Mr Brodsky had three days to appeal against the decision.
Mabhouh was found dead in his room in a hotel near Dubai airport.
For historical reasons, the arrest has proved a delicate diplomatic issue for Poland. Tel Aviv has urged Warsaw to send Mr Brodsky home rather than hand him over to Germany.
“Poland needs to tell Germany that it is sending an Israeli citizen to Israel and if there is some complaint against him, we have legal procedures (that) have great credibility with the international legal system,” Israel’s Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov said last month. He was echoed by Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has, however, said he hoped to avoid diplomatic fallout from Poland’s actions in the case.
“I don’t need to explain to anyone how delicate this case is, given the historical issues in this triangle between Poland, Israel and Germany,” Mr Tusk said last month. “The law doesn’t give Polish justice much room for manoeuvre.”
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