Britain has laid down strict conditions for any potential replacement of the Israeli official expelled from London, believed to be the Mossad representative in London.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband accused Israel of forging the British passports used by a hit squad which assassinated Hamas terrorist Mahmoud al-Mabhouh at a luxury hotel in Dubai.

The official sent back to Israel is believed by the Foreign Office to be directly linked to the forgeries.

An Israeli government official confirmed that the expelled diplomat would be replaced in due time.

Britain has insisted that there is never any repeat of the forging of documents, and has demanded a pledge from Jerusalem before any replacement is considered, the Independent reports.

The pledge asks Israel to confirm "the state of Israel would never be party to the misuse of British passports".
But Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has claimed there is still no proof his country was involved in either the forgeries or the killings.

Australia, France and Germany have all confirmed they are conducting their own investigations into the forging of their passports used by other members of the hit squad.