Israel denies assassination of Palestinian scientist in Malaysia

From Reuters:

Israel’s defence minister said on Sunday a Palestinian scientist shot dead in Malaysia was a rocket expert and “no saint”, but dismissed suggestions by Hamas that Israel’s Mossad spy agency assassinated him.

Two men on a motorcycle fired 10 shots at Fadi al-Batsh, an engineering lecturer, in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, killing him on the spot, the city’s police chief, Mazlan Lazim said.

Hamas, an Islamist militant group that rules the Gaza Strip, said one of its members had been assassinated in Malaysia. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said Mossad had been behind past attempts to kill Palestinian scientists, and the attack on Batsh “follows this sequence.”

Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said it was likely that Batsh was killed as part of an internal Palestinian dispute.

“We heard about it in the news. The terrorist organisations blame every assassination on Israel - we’re used to that,” Lieberman told Israel Radio.

“The man was no saint and he didn’t deal with improving infrastructure in Gaza - he was involved in improving rockets’ accuracy ... We constantly see a settling of accounts between various factions in the terrorist organisations and I suppose that is what happened in this case.”

Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said on Saturday the suspects in the killing, who fled the scene, were believed to be Europeans with links to a foreign intelligence agency, state news agency Bernama reported.

He added that Batsh was active in pro-Palestinian non-governmental organisations, describing him as an expert in electrical engineering and rocket-building.

He could have been seen as “a liability for a country that is an enemy of Palestine,” Zahid was quoted as saying by Bernama.

I would have thought that this was Mossad, and Israel doesn't usually issue blanket denials. Then again, Lieberman is not the most diplomatic speaker.

Here's gruesome video of al-Batsh after he was shot:

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