KUALA LAMPUR, Malaysia – October 18 (ONLINE) Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad is believed to be behind the abduction of a Palestinian man who was snatched from a street in the capital Kuala Lumpur and interrogated before being freed by police, a Malaysian news organisation has reported.
Malaysia’s New Straits Times reported on Tuesday that the Palestinian computer programmer was bundled into one of two waiting cars by four men involved in the “snatch-and-grab” operation on the night of September 28.
The kidnapped man – who was not named – was beaten as he was driven to a house on the outskirts of the capital where, blindfolded and tied to a chair, he was interrogated over a video call on matters related to the Palestinian political organisation Hamas and its armed wing the Qassam Brigades.
“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 news organisation reported.
“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 news organisation added.
“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,” a source with knowledge of the case told the New Straits Times.
The source also said the team of kidnappers – identified as Malaysians – had “bungled” the operation as they had let a second Palestinian man get away. The Malaysian operatives had also failed to cover their faces and had not placed fake registration plates on their vehicles, the source said.
The second Palestinian man, described as a “more prized capture”, was able to raise the alarm with police who traced the car registration plates to a house where the kidnappers were arrested and the man freed.
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