‘ISRAELI-MADE GUN COULD HAVE BEEN USED’
Assailants could have used submachine gun, or Uzi, used by special forces operatives, says source
THE two “Middle Eastern-looking” men believed to have assassinated Palestinian lecturer Dr Fadi M.R. Albatsh in Setapak last month might have used a machine pistol, or a submachine gun (SMG), to gun him down.
A security source said the investigation team had not dismissed the possibility that the assailants could have been using a Uzi, an Israeli-made compact and easy to conceal SMG employed especially by special forces operatives.
“It could be a (machine) pistol or submachine gun. Yes, they could be using a Uzi.”
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Fuzi Harun recently said police were waiting for ballistics report on the type of weapon used by suspects
The probability that the men used an Uzi SMG to kill Fadi could strengthen accusations by certain parties, including by the victim’s family, that Israel’s spy agency, Mossad, was responsible for the killing.
The Uzi SMG was produced by Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) and used extensively by the Israel Defence Force.
As the demand for the weapon increased around the globe, it is being manufactured by other companies outside Israel.
Weighing about 3kg, compact and easy to use, the original Uzi uses 9mm calibre bullets similar to a pistol’s rounds, but possessed a highrate of fire capable of reaching up to 1,000 rounds per minute, depending on its variants.
Besides the original Uzi SMG, which was designed by Uziel Gal (after whom it was named) in the 1940s, the maker of the weapon came out with different variants, such as the Mini Uzi, Micro Uzi and Uzi Pro pistol.
Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman had denied Tel Aviv’s involvement in the murder, but it did not stop fingers pointing to Mossad, which had been accused of assassinating Hamas and other Palestinian personalities in the past.
Despite Tel Aviv’s denial, journalists and local newspapers in Israel claimed that the killing of Fadi bore all the hallmarks of a Mossad hit job.
Malaysian police here declined to pin the blame on Mossad operatives for the murder as the probe was ongoing, but have widened investigations by sending a special team here in Thailand and requested cooperation from their counterparts in Singapore and the Philippines.
A security source recently said that the two men had used fake Serbia and Montenegro passports to enter Malaysia, a revelation later confirmed by the IGP.
After assassinating Fadi, the men who were described as “highly professional” and connected to the “Arab-Israeli conflict”, fled to Thailand using illegal routes along the border.
Fadi was killed when walking to a nearby mosque for subuh prayers by two men on a highpowered motorcycle, who fired 20 shots at him.
The father of three had been living in Malaysia for about 10 years and was employed by a private local university. His body was repatriated to Gaza Strip for a martyr’s burial.