Fake EU passports bad for visa exemption

Hamas functionary Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was killed by a hit squad on Friday in Dubai. According to the investigators at least eleven people suspected of involvement in the crime used fake passports from several European countries. This has given Europe's visa exemption in the Emirates a bad name, writes Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt in his blog: "The foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates ... called me in connection with the murder. It was carried out with the help of fake passports from EU countries and therefore casts a dark shadow over the visa exemption that EU citizens have in his country. We agreed on how important it is for everyone to work together with the Emirate authorities to find out what happened. That it is unacceptable for EU passports to be faked and abused in this way will no doubt be one of the subjects discussed [at today's meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels]."

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