**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.
The suspects were named by police in Dubai where Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was murdered in his hotel on 20 January.
A French man and a German man were also suspected of playing parts in the assassination.
Dubai police said on Monday it would issue arrest warrants for 11 people suspected of the assassination of Mr Mabhouh.
Reports have suggested that Mr Mabhouh was in Dubai to buy weapons for Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
Hamas have accused Israeli agents of killing him.
A day after Dubai police announced the names of the suspects, a spokesman for Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs said: "We are unable to identify any of those three individuals as being genuine Irish citizens.
“I don’t know how this happened or who chose my name or why, but hopefully we’ll find out soon”
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“Ireland has issued no passports in those names.”
The passport numbers had the wrong number of digits and did not contain letters as authentic passports do.
“These purported passports are false. These are not genuine passports,” the spokesman said.
The Britons were named as James Leonard Clarke, Stephen Daniel Hodes, Paul John Keeley, Michael Lawrence Barney, Jonathan Lewis Graham and Melvyn Adam Mildiner.
But the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: "We believe the passports used were fraudulent and have begun our own investigation.
“We have informed the authorities in the UAE that this is the case, and continue to co-operate closely with the Emiratis on this matter.”
One man with the same name as a British suspect said it was not him, according to Reuters news agency.
Melvyn Adam Mildner, a British man living in Israel, told Reuters: “I am obviously angry, upset and scared - any number of things. And I’m looking into what I can do to try to sort things out and clear my name.”
“I don’t know how this happened or who chose my name or why, but hopefully we’ll find out soon,” said Mr Mildiner, adding that he had his passport with him.
Officials in Dubai said the team appeared to be a professional hit-squad, most likely sponsored by a foreign power, suggesting the team were operating on false documents.