Palestinians attend a funeral ceremony of Fadi Mohamed al-Batsh, who was shot dead in Kuala Lumpur, at Jabalia Refugee Camp in Gaza City, Gaza on April 21, 2018. (Credit: Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency)
Nadine Osman
Malaysian authorities have reportedly freed a Palestinian man who had been kidnapped and interrogated by Israeli Mossad agents in Kuala Lumpur, on October 17.
The Palestinian man, whose identity has not been disclosed, is from the Gaza Strip and was kidnapped on the evening of September 28 by Malaysian nationals who had been recruited and trained by the Israeli intelligence agency in Europe.
After being taken to a chalet on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, where, he was questioned over a video call on matters related to Hamas and its armed wing the Qassam Brigades reported the New Straits Times.
“A video call had been set up in front of the victim. On the line were two men, believed to be Israelis, whose opening line to him was: ‘You know why you are here,’” the daily said.
“For the next 24 hours, the victim was interrogated and beaten by the Malaysian operatives when his answers were not to the Israelis’ satisfaction.”
“The Israelis wanted to know about his experience in computer application development, Hamas’ strength in developing software, members of the Al-Qassam Brigade that he knew and their strengths,” said a source with knowledge of the case .
A second Palestinian, who was with the alleged target of the abduction, alerted local police. Both men are reported to be computer programming experts.
The two Palestinians have since left Malaysia, according to the report, and at least two Malaysian nationals are being held by police.
A “well-informed Malaysian source” told Al Jazeera Arabic that an investigation had uncovered a “Mossad cell” in the country that was involved in spying on a number of sites, including airports, and seeking to penetrate “government electronic companies”.
On April 21, 2018, Fadi Mohamed al-Batsh, 35, a Palestinian engineer and member of Hamas, was killed in a drive-by shooting outside a Kuala Lumpur mosque. The Malaysian government said that “foreign agents” were responsible for the killing, while al-Batsh’s family accused Mossad of being behind his murder.
