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5 May, 2018

Palestinian lecturer’s assassins used fake Serbia, Montenegro passports to enter Malaysia, fled to Thailand

BANGKOK, Thailand May 4 (NNN-Bernama) – The two men linked to the killing of Palestinian lecturer Dr Fadi Mohammed Al Batsch last month were believed to have used fake passports from Serbia and Montenegro to enter Malaysia.

After executing the precision-timed hit on the Hamas-linked academician on April 21, the alleged assassins slipped into Thailand using illegal routes in the Malaysia-Thailand border.

“The Malaysian police have sought the cooperation of the Royal Thai Police to nab the duo. A high-ranking Bukit Aman officer flew to Bangkok recently to meet Royal Thai Police officers,” a security source told Bernama here today.

Bernama was made to understand that the senior officer was Criminal Investigation Department (CID) (Operation and Intelligence) deputy head, Huzir Mohamed, who held meetings with his Thai counterpart yesterday.

Huzir also gave a briefing on the latest development surrounding the high-profile murder.

The source declined to say whether the assassins were still in Thailand.
Today, Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Mohamad Fuzi Harun confirmed that Bukit Aman had sent a special team to Bangkok in relation to the investigations into Fadi’s killing.

He said the police also sought cooperation from their counterparts in Singapore and the Philippines in efforts to track down the assassins.

On April 21, the 35-year-old electrical engineering lecturer was gunned down by two “Middle Eastern” looking men atop a high-powered motorcycle as the victim was walking from his Setapak condominium to a nearby mosque for dawn prayers.
The assassins were believed to have fired 10 times in the direction of the lecturer.

The murder attracted worldwide attention due to Fadi’s alleged links with Hamas and the victim’s effort to develop capabilities in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV).

The Palestinian’s family has blamed the Israeli spy/intelligence agency, Mossad, as having orchestrated Fadi’s murder as the agency was known to have carried out similar assassinations on Hamas and other Palestinian resistance leaders in the past.

The lecturer who had been living in Malaysia for almost 10 years was married with three children and was an expert on alternative energy.

He was employed by the University Kuala Lumpur-British Malaysia Institute (UNIKL-BMI).

His body was returned to Gaza for burial.

The security source who declined to reveal his identity also told Bernama that the two suspects were alleged to have entered Malaysia sometime in early February based on their house rental records.

He suspects both men fled to Thailand not long after the murder to return to the “country of origin”, whom he declined to identify.

On whether the assassins were related to Israel’s spy agency as speculated by many, including the victim’s family, the source would only say that the men were “highly professional” in their fields.

“Both men are related to interested parties in the Arab-Israeli conflict,” he said.–NNN-BERNAMA