Slain Hamas man no saint, he was rocket expert, says Israel
occupied jerusalem — Israeli defence minister on Sunday dismissed claims the country’s spy agency was behind the assassination of a Palestinian scientist in Malaysia, suggesting instead that his killing was a “settling of accounts”.
Speaking to Israeli radio, Avigdor Lieberman described the dead Palestinian, a member of Hamas, as “no saint” and said he had been involved in rocket production.
Fadi Mohammed Al Batsh, 35, was killed in a Kuala Lumpur driveby shooting on Saturday, according to Malaysian authorities, with his family accusing Israel’s Mossad spy agency of the assassination.
Hamas said Batsh, a research scientist specialising in energy issues, was one of its members.
“There’s a tradition among terror organisations of blaming Israel for every instance of settling of accounts,” Lieberman told public radio, noting the reports that Batsh’s work involved improving the range and accuracy of rockets.
At the crime scene, police markers indicated 14 bullets had been sprayed at the victim, some of them hitting a wall.
Malaysian Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was quoted by the state-run Bernama news agency as saying Batsh was “an electrical engineer and an expert at making rockets”.
Militants in Hamas-ruled Gaza fire rockets deep into Israel, but usually without casualties.
Malaysia’s police chief Mohammed Fuzi Harun said a task force has been formed to investigate the killing
We want to ensure a complete probe. We are still investigating the motive. I urge people not to make any conclusion Mohammed Fuzi Harun, Malaysia’s police chief
but would not speculate on the motive or whether foreign assassins were involved.
Photos of the two suspects provided by witnesses showed they looked like Europeans, he told a news conference on Sunday afternoon.
When asked if there was evidence of foreign involvement in the killing, he said: “We want to ensure a complete probe. We are still investigating the motive. I urge people not to make any conclusion.” No arrests have been made and the murder weapon has not been recovered, he said.
Palestinian representative to Malaysia Anwar Al Agha said Fadi’s body would be taken back to the Palestinian territories for burial.
Mohammed Shedad, 17, a student and a relative of the victim, also blamed Mossad for the killing.
“It is definitely the work of Mossad. Fadi is a very clever person, anyone who is clever is a threat to Israel,” he told AFP outside the victim’s Malaysian apartment.
“Fadi is a Hamas member and knows how to make rockets. So (Israel) think he is dangerous.”
Batsh was married with three young children and had lived in Malaysia for 10 years. —