My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department (Alan Johnson) has today made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

Following a formal request from the Emirati law enforcement authorities, the Serious Organised Crime Agency is conducting an investigation into the apparent use of counterfeit British passports by those suspected of murdering a Hamas official in Dubai recently. The investigation is at an early stage but a number of avenues of inquiry are expected to be followed. Since this is a criminal investigation, it would not be appropriate to comment on it at this stage.

Based on the limited information available, the Identity and Passport Service is satisfied that the passport records identified are genuine UK passports, issued in the UK between September 2001 and January 2006, and that the photographs and signatures provided by the Dubai authorities do not match those on IPS records. These pre-date the time when biometric UK passports started to be issued.