The UK is to expel an Israeli diplomat over the use of 12 forged British passports by the killers of a Hamas leader in Dubai, the BBC has learned.Foreign Secretary David Miliband will make a statement to Parliament later.
Israel has said there is no proof that its agents were behind the killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai in January.
BBC Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen said the person to be expelled is likely to be the London head of Israel's secret service, Mossad.
Strong message
Diplomatic sources stressed the British government has stopped short of accusing Israel of the murder.
However Mr Miliband has previously demanded that Israel co-operate fully with the investigation into how the passports were obtained.
The foreign secretary is to make the statement after Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) found proof of the cloned passports.
Soca agents had travelled to Israel to speak to those whose passports were copied with new photographs inserted.
The BBC's Jeremy Bowen said the expulsion would send a "very clear message" of British disapproval.
"It is a very big step for a government like the British to expel one of the diplomats belonging to one of its important allies," he said.
The head of Britain's diplomatic service, Peter Ricketts, met Israel's ambassador to London, Ron Prosor, on Monday, Downing Street has confirmed. He was also summoned last month.
But Mr Prosor will not be the diplomat to be expelled.
Former Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Menzies Campbell, said for a diplomat to be expelled, Israel must have had "some hand" in the matter, or been unwilling to co-operate with Soca.
He told BBC Radio 4's World at One programme: "It is very serious indeed... there can't be a greater violation of trust for one ally to abuse the passports of another ally."
Last month Mr Miliband described the use of fake UK passports as an "outrage" and vowed that the inquiry would "get to the bottom" of the affair.
Twelve fake British passports were used in the plot to murder Mr Mabhouh - the founder of Hamas's military wing - in his hotel room in Dubai on 19 January.
The names and details on the UK passports used by eight of the 12 suspects belonged to British-Israeli citizens living in Israel. All of them have denied involvement.
Dubai officials said they were "99% certain" that agents from Mossad were behind the killing but Israel has said there is no proof.
Other members of the hit squad travelled on fake Irish, French and Australian travel documents, Dubai police said.
Following his death, Mr Mabhouh's family said medical teams that examined him determined he had died after receiving a massive electric shock to the head. They also found evidence that he had been strangled.
Blood samples sent to a French laboratory confirmed he was killed by electric shock, after which the body was sent to Syria, they said.
Dubai police have used CCTV footage to identify 27 alleged members of the team that tracked and killed Mr Mabhouh.
Thousands of people attended his funeral at the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp, on the outskirts of Damascus in January.
A Foreign Office spokeswoman said Mr Miliband would make a statement to the House of the Commons at 1530 GMT.
In 1988 Britain expelled Israeli diplomat Arie Regev over a spying row. He was described by UK sources as a Mossad agent.
