The suspect, known as Uri Brodsky, arrived at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv after he was freed by German authorities on Friday, pending a decision on whether he was involved in the falsification of a passport that was tied to the assassination of Mahmoud al Mabhouh in Dubai, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported yesterday without citing its sources.

Few details have been published about Mr Brodsky in Israel, where the issue appears to be under heavy official censorship, typical of issues Israel views as part of its national security.

Nevertheless, the case has helped to raise suspicions of Israel’s alleged forgery of European passports believed to have been used by members of the hit squad that killed al Mabhouh, one of the founders of the military wing of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.