GAZA CITY: The family of a Palestinian professor and Hamas member accusedIsrael’s Mossad spy agency on Saturday of killing him on the streets ofKuala Lumpur.
Malaysian police said Fadi Mohammad al-Batsh, 35, was killed in a drive-bymotorcycle shooting as he headed on foot to take part in dawn Muslimprayers on Saturday.
In a statement from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, his family said: “We accusethe Mossad of being behind the assassination.”
The Islamist Palestinian movement said Batsh, a research scientistspecialising in energy issues, was one of its members.
Hamas did not accuse Israel of killing him but called Batsh a “martyr” — aword it usually uses for people killed by Israeli forces.
Contacted by AFP, an Israeli official refused to comment.
Kuala Lumpur police chief Datuk Seri Mazlan Lazim said one of two suspectson a high-powered motorcycle “fired 10 shots, four of which hit thelecturer in the head and body. He died on the spot.”
“The police also found two empty bullet shells there,” the police chiefsaid, according to Malaysia’s state-run Bernama news agency.
The police chief said that footage from closed-circuit television camerasnear the scene of the shooting showed that two assailants waited for around20 minutes in the area before attacking.
“We believe the lecturer was their target because two other individualswalked by the place earlier unharmed. We will view the recordings of allthe CCTV in the area to identify the suspects and get the registrationnumber of the motorcycle,” he said.
The Batsh family urged Malaysian authorities to investigate his murder and“arrest those responsible for killing him before they flee”. They alsoasked for the return of his body to his hometown of Jabalya in the GazaStrip.
The Mossad is believed to have assassinated Palestinian militants andscientists in the past, but has never confirmed such operations.
Hamas has accused Mossad of assassinating one of its drone experts —Mohamed Zouari — in Tunisia in 2016, and the spy agency is also believed tohave been behind the 2010 murder of top Hamas militant Mahmud al-Mabhuh ina Dubai hotel. – APP/AFP