Family accuses Israel

GAZA CITY, Palestine: The family of a Palestinian professor and Hamas member accused Israel´s Mossad spy agency on Saturday of killing him on the streets of Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysian police said Fadi Mohammad al-Batsh, 35, was killed in a drive-by motorcycle shooting as he headed on foot to take part in dawn Muslim prayers on Saturday.

In a statement from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, his family said, "We accuse the Mossad of being behind the assassination."

The Palestinian movement said Batsh, a research scientist specialising in energy issues, was one of its members.

Hamas did not accuse Israel of killing him but called Batsh a "martyr, a word it usually uses for people killed by Israeli forces.

Contacted by AFP, an Israeli official refused to comment. Kuala Lumpur police chief Datuk Seri Mazlan Lazim said one of two suspects on a high-powered motorcycle "fired 10 shots, four of which hit the lecturer in the head and body.