EU foreign affairs chief to visit Israel in March

(BRUSSELS) - EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton will visit Israel next month, the Israeli foreign office announced Wednesday, amid a controversy over European passports used by the killers of a Hamas official.

The Israeli side will seek to keep the focus on the Middle East peace process while also touching on the Jewish state's ambition of eventually becoming a European Union member state.

"Baroness Ashton will visit Israel on March 17 as the guest of foreign minister (Avigdor) Lieberman, when they will continue to discuss the strengthening of relations between Israel and the European Union, and other issues," Lieberman's office said in a statement released in Brussels.

Ashton had already announced her intention to visit the Middle East, for the first time since taking office this year, without giving a date or itinerary of such a trip.

She and Lieberman met in Brussels on Monday where they held "a frank and serious discussion," according to the Israeli statement.

Their discussions involved the issue of the January killing in a Dubai hotel of Mahmud al-Mabhuh, a founder of the armed wing of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement that controls the Gaza Strip,

Dubai police have released the names and photos of suspects in Mabhuh's killing, who they say entered the UAE using fraudulent European passports and identities -- from Britain, Ireland, France and Germany.

The finger of suspicion has been pointed at the Israeli secret service Mossad, though the Jewish state has said there is no evidence linking it to the murder.

After her meeting with Lieberman, Ashton met with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas who was visiting the Belgian capital on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Abbas denounced Israeli "provocation" over two contested holy sites in the occupied West Bank, warning it could unleash a "religious war".

Ashton's office confirmed that the EU High Representative would be travelling soon to Israel, without confirming the date.

Her spokesman added that she would not only be visiting Israel, leaving open the possibility of a trip to the Palestinian West Bank.

Ashton will also attend a meeting of the Middle East diplomatic Quartet -- the European Union, the United States, Russia and the United Nations -- in Moscow in March 19.