| Could be Mossad, or possibly not. They tend to get paranoid in that part of the world… |
"He entered Malaysia on March 12 using a French passport, was arrested on March 27 and will be remanded until March 31 for further investigation," Inspector General of Police Razarudin Husain told reporters without naming the suspect. "During the probe, he handed us his Israeli passport."
Razarudin said the suspect apparently did not bring the handguns into the country.
"He told us the firearms were meant to kill another Israeli national and were bought in Malaysia using crypto currency," Razarudin said, adding that police were investigating the man’s statement.
"We cannot take all his words as truth. He could have another agenda," Razarudin said, adding police were trying to determine if the man was a member of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has spoken out against Israel since it began retaliating for an Oct. 7, 2023, attack on the Jewish state by Hamas militants that left at least 1,100 Israelis dead. Since then, more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes and military operations in the Gaza Strip.
During his recent visit to Germany, Anwar criticized the "hypocrisy" of Western countries in dealing with the conflict in the Middle East. The criticism follows comments the Malaysian leader made just weeks after the original attack.
In late October 2023, Anwar refused to label Hamas as a terrorist group despite U.S. demands that Malaysia change its stance.
"Because of our reluctance to label Hamas a terrorist organization and consider Hamas as terrorists, I have received information that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs received a ’démarche,’ or diplomatic protest, from the U.S. Embassy twice, first on Oct. 13 and second on Oct. 30," Anwar told Parliament a day after the second diplomatic protest.
"Malaysia will not change its stance, particularly our reluctance to consider Hamas as a terrorist group. ... Malaysia maintains its independent position."
Anwar said the stance was based on humanitarian grounds because Malaysia views Israel’s occupation of Gaza "as illegal under international law and norms."
"This conflict did not start just a month ago; it has been ongoing for decades, since 1998," he said at the time.
Malaysia has no formal diplomatic relations with Israel. In December, the Southeast Asian country imposed a docking ban on Israeli-owned ships from entering Malaysia following the Israeli ground invasion of Gaza.
LOADED WEAPONS
On Friday, Razarudin said police did not think the suspect was working alone. The nation’s police chief noted that three of the handguns were loaded and ready to fire.
"He probably has his network and contact here who we have yet to identify," Razarudin said, adding he likely did not bring the handguns with him because he traveled from the United Arab Emirates where security is tight.
Malaysian police are investigating the man under the Passport Act of 1966 and Section 7 of Firearms Act for unauthorized possession of weapons. If charged and found guilty, he could be sentenced to death.
MOSSAD LINK
Muhammad Danial Azman, senior lecturer from the International Institute of Public Policy and Management, University of Malaya, said the potential spy allegation could not be discounted.
"Simply assuming that the police are jumping to a conclusion is somewhat inaccurate. The security enforcement authority is acting not without ’reason,’ but mostly likely functioning after successive intelligence information," he told BenarNews.
"The current press release is instead updating the public based on what they have gathered so far, and this will eventually be followed by more eventual legal and security measures within the parameters of the constitution and security policy."
He added that a link between the suspect’s activity and Malaysia’s support for the Palestinian cause is plausible.
"After all, we have to consider past incidents of alleged involvement of Israeli intelligence agents in the extrajudicial killing of Fadi Mohammad," he told BenarNews.
Six years ago, a Palestinian engineer residing in Malaysia, Fadi Mohammad al-Batsh, was shot dead by "Europeans with links to foreign intelligence agency" riding a motorcycle near a local mosque in Kuala Lumpur. His family has blamed Mossad for his killing."
| Update from the Times of Israel at 12:20 pm ET: |
The two syndicates have been engaged in a
According to reports, Avitan is expected to face 25 years in jail if convicted.
Three Malaysians, including a married couple, were arrested on Friday and have been remanded for seven days on suspicion of supplying weapons and acting as a driver to the Israeli suspect, Razarudin told Rooters on Saturday.
A pistol was retrieved from a car belonging to the couple, he said.
Malaysia, a majority-Moslem country, is a staunch supporter of the Paleostinians and has criticized Israel’s actions in the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about
oppressionand
disproportionate response...
war. Malaysia, which does not have diplomatic ties with Israel, is home to around 600 Paleostinian refugees, according to the United Nations
...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships...
refugee agency.
In 2018, a Paleostinian scientist was rubbed out in the Malaysian capital by two faceless myrmidons in a killing that the Hamas
...not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...terror group suggested was carried out by Israel’s Mossad intelligence service. Israel denied the allegations.
No, no! Certainly not!