Mourners bid farewell to murdered lecturer in Malaysia

By Hossam Mahmoud

KUALA LUMPUR (AA) – Hundreds of Arabs and Malaysians took part in the funeral of a Palestinian lecturer, who was shot dead in the capital Kuala Lumpur last week.

On Saturday, Hamas-linked lecturer Fadi Mohammed al-Batsh was shot dead near his home by two gunmen, who fled the scene unscathed.

While al-Batsh's family has accused Israel's spy agency Mossad of killing the lecturer, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman has denied involvement in the assassination.

Hundreds of mourners from Arab communities in Malaysia and local Malaysians took part in the funeral before the body will be flown to his hometown in the Gaza Strip, according to an Anadolu Agency reporter.

Palestinian ambassador Anwar Al-Agha and a representative of Malaysian Mufti Zulkifli Mohamad also attended the funeral.

Many of the mourners waved the Palestinian flag and pictures of the murdered lecturer during the funeral.

On Monday, Malaysian police published two sketches of the suspects behind the lecturer's assassination, saying that the suspects could be from the Middle East or Europe and are well-built.

In earlier statements, Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the Home Ministry has spotted foreign agents including those from "a country in the Middle East" using passports of such countries to conduct "certain missions".

Malaysia has no diplomatic relations with Israel.

Israel is widely believed to have killed numerous Palestinian resistance activists in the past, many of them overseas.

In 1997, Mossad agents tried -- and failed -- to kill Hamas political chief Khaled Meshaal in Jordan by spraying poison into his ear.

Mossad is also believed to have been behind the assassination in 2010 of top Hamas commander Mahmud al-Mabhuh in a Dubai hotel.

Israel has never confirmed or denied its involvement in Mabhuh's murder.