British FS welcomes Assad’s call for Syria reforms

Foreign Secretary William Hague welcomed the Syrian president’s call Saturday for emergency law to be lifted, saying reforms were “necessary and urgent”. (more…)

British PM to announce 6 May general election

Gordon Brown will announce on Tuesday morning that the general election will, as expected, be held on 6 May, BBC political editor Nick Robinson says.

The prime minister will go to Buckingham Palace to ask the Queen to dissolve Parliament.

On returning from the Palace he will formally confirm the date and make a speech in Downing Street in which he will dub the election “the big choice”.

The economy, taxation and public services will be key battlegrounds.

The campaign will also feature, for the first time, live television debates between the three main party leaders. (more…)

6 of hit squad suspected of killing Hamas man ‘had UK passports’

Six members of an 11-strong hit squad suspected of killing a senior Hamas military commander in Dubai entered the country using British passports, police said last night.
Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, 49, was killed on 20 January in his hotel room, hours after arriving in the state. Last month Hamas claimed Israeli agents assassinated Mabhouh, who was wanted for the killing of two Israeli soldiers in 1989.
Lieutenant General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, Dubai’s chief of police, said yesterday that 11 people, including one woman, were wanted over the killing. He said all suspects had European passports. In addition to the six British passport holders, three were carrying Irish passports and the two others were from France and Germany, Tamim said. guardian.co.uk / Telegraph.uk

Suspects wanted in connection with the killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, clockwise from top left : Michael Lawrence Barney, James Leonard Clarke, Stephen Daniel Hodes, Paul John Keeley, Melvyn Adam Mildiner Photo: AP

Update: Passports fake, say UK and Ireland
The British and Irish governments have said that passports belonging to the alleged killers of a top Hamas official are fake.
Ireland said the names Gail Folliard, Evan Dennings and Kevin Daveron, and their passport numbers, did not match anything issued by its officials.
Britain said it believed six British passports were also fakes. BBC
In Dubai Tamim told reporters that security camera video obtained by his investigators showed the team at work in Dubai in the hours leading up to the assassination in a luxury hotel last month.
On Tuesday, a newspaper Web site in Dubai published the video released by the authorities, which appears to show the suspects following the Hamas official, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh

Hamas arrests British journalist in Gaza

A British journalist has been arrested by Hamas authorities in Gaza and detained for 15 days of questioning, Hamas officials said on Monday, citing suspicion of unspecified security offenses.
The Hamas Interior Ministry said in a statement that the journalist, Paul Martin, who was arrested on Sunday, was suspected of “violating Palestinian law and security in the Gaza Strip.”
Martin was not reporting in Gaza at the time of his arrest but had come voluntarily to testify for a Palestinian man ( Mohammed Abu Muaileq) on trial in a Hamas military court, accused of collaborating with Israel. Martin, who has produced reports for the BBC, among others, was arrested in the courtroom and taken to jail.

Correction:  Photo replaced with the right Paul Martin,  thanks  to Mr Houssam Moghrabi ’s comment

Egypt declares George Galloway as persona non grata

Egypt on Friday declared renegade British lawmaker George Galloway persona non grata, accusing him of incitement after his harsh criticism of Cairo over delays in an aid convoy’s entry into Gaza, the foreign ministry said.

“George Galloway is considered persona non grata and will not be allowed to enter into Egypt again,” a Foreign Ministry statement said. The activist left Egypt Friday morning from Cairo airport. Earlier, British press reported Galloway had been deported from Egypt. They said he was forcefully taken by police from the Rafah crossing with Gaza to Cairo airport where he was put on departing British Airways plane.AP

Miliband: Iran must not ’stifle’ protesters

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband voiced concern Monday over clashes between police and protesters in Iran, urging the Islamic republic not to “stifle” its people.
“I share the concern of many people about the use of force to stifle demonstrations on Students’ Day,” he said after Iranian protesters defied police firing tear gas to stage fresh anti-government demonstrations.
“This follows the large scale abuses of human rights that have taken place since the presidential elections on June 12.
“Freedom of speech and freedom of political expression are fundamental values which all governments should respect. We look to the Iranian authorities to uphold the freedoms of their own citizens, not stifle them.”