http://www.thepost.ie/news/ireland/stolen-passports-were-issued-before-encryption-safeguards-47544.html 

By John Burke 
Public Affairs Correspondent
The Sunday Business Post
21 February 2010

The five Irish passport numbers that were stolen by a team of hitmen who 
killed a senior Hamas figure in Dubai were all issued before 2005. Three 
of the Irish citizens whose passports were faked had never been to the 
Middle East.

The revelation indicates that the assassins had targeted passport 
numbers which would not be on any travel databases in the Emirates, or 
in any neighbouring state with which the UAE shared visa data.

Also, by using numbers that were issued prior to 2005, the passports 
would not include security enhancements that were added to Irish 
passports after that date, including biometric encryption and embedded 
images of the passport holder.

It has also emerged that, in some of the cases, the gender of the bogus 
hit-squad member did not correspond with the gender of the real Irish 
citizen to whom the passport number belonged.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has yet to speak to all of the genuine 
Irish passport holders but expects to do so in the coming days. Garda 
have opened an investigation into the case, but sources said they did 
not expect to travel to Dubai as part of the probe, which is primarily 
being led by the department.

Senior Hamas figure Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was killed in the Emirates last 
month by a suspected 18-strong gang of assassins travelling under fake 
passports from Ireland, Britain, Germany and France.

[...]


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