WITH Israel threatening to take out key Hamas leaders across the globe, an academic has urged the Malaysian authorities not to take the matter lightly.
“Israel has two intelligence agencies, one is Shin Bet which deals with internal security issues, like our Special Branch.
“The other one is Mossad, where they conduct operations outside the country. After World War 2, many Nazi leaders escaped to Europe and Argentina but this agency managed to assassinate or capture some of them to face trials in Israel.
“Mossad is that capable. Look at what they did to Iran’s uranium enrichment plan in Natanz,” HELP University Faculty of Business, Economics and Accounting and Institute Crime and Criminology senior lecturer R Paneir Selvam told FocusM.
Two days ago, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin said that all national security agencies have stepped up their security measures following Israel’s threat.
“The Home Ministry calls on the public to remain calm as the country’s security situation is under control and at a good level,” he said, in a statement.
Touching on the matter, Paneir Selvam said that it was important for the Government to protect Hamas leaders in Malaysia, together with their families, by placing them in safe houses until tension subsides.
“And it’s important that their location is kept secret and known only to select few within the security hierarchy,” he said.
Get rid of bad apples from security forces
The academic added that the Government cannot allow what happened to North Korean leader’s half-brother, Kim Jong-nam, to occur again in Malaysian soil.
In 2017, Kim was assassinated at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, using VX nerve agent. He was the eldest son of deceased North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and the half-brother of Kim Jong-un, who is currently North Korea’s supremo.
Two women, one Indonesian and the other Vietnamese, were arrested for the murder, with four other North Korean suspects escaping before the authorities could get to them.
On how corruption may compromise the Malaysian security detail, Paneir Selvam stressed that graft-related issue is not unique to Malaysia as even the US-based Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) suffer from the same malaise sometimes.
“The important thing is for us to have the right mechanisms in place to contain corruption in our intelligence and security detail.
“For starters, we must take former Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Hamid Bador’s expose on graft within the police force seriously and act on it.
“His successor and others after him must follow suit and enact the right policies to weed out the bad apples,” he stated.
On related matter, Paneir Selvam urged world powers, including China, to get their act together and end the violence between Israel and Palestine.
“The fighting has to stop and we must save people’s lives. Malaysia has taken the right initiative to work on the matter.
“I suggest the Government to use the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) as a platform to pressure the United Nations (UN),” he remarked. – May 18, 2021.
