An Israeli helicopter fired three missiles at the 67-year-old wheelchair-bound Sheikh Yassin after leaving the mosque following dawn prayers

By Kazi Mahmood, IOL Southeast Asia Correspondent

Kuala Lumpur, March 23 (IslamOnline.net) – The Malaysian government and Muslim organizations on Tuesday, March 23, branded as "state terrorism" Israel’s assassination of Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin a day earlier.

"Israel, by taking this means, has actually committed an act of state terrorism," a Malaysian Foreign Ministry statement said.

An Israeli strike helicopter fired three missiles at the 67-year-old wheelchair-bound Sheikh Yassin after performing the dawn prayers in a mosque near his home, killing him and at least eight others.

"This would only escalate further the cycle of deadly violence and increase tension," said the statement carried by the official Bernama news agency.

Malaysia, which holds the rotating presidency of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Conference (IOC) and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), called on the Mideast Quartet "to ensure peace and security as well as the resumption of the peace process."

Barbarism

The Malay Youth Movement (ABIM), which represents a large majority of Muslim youth organizations and Muslim Non-Government Organizations (NGO) in Malaysia, vehemently condemned Sheikh Yassin’s assassination.

"This is pure state terrorism and no excuse can be given nor explanation can be taken from the Israelis after this act of barbary," ABIM's Vice-President Azzizudin told IslamOnline.net over the phone Tuesday.

"They said the attack was in response to what has been happening in Israel with the suicide bombings, but this is not a justification for such an attack on the person of Sheikh Yassin," he added.

In a statement addressed to the OIC, ABIM pressed for dispatching peacekeeping forces to put an end to Zionist attacks against Palestinians.

"The killing of the Sheikh will now result in more violence in Palestine and that will affect more children and women in the process, and Israel must be made responsible for the events that will unfold after this assassination," added the organization.

Besides the ABIM, other Islamic organizations too condemned the assassination of Sheikh Yassin in the strongest terms.

The Jemaah Islah Malaysia (JIM) which groups Muslims of different organizations in Malaysia, denounced the Israeli crime and urged Muslims to continue the fight for the liberation of Palestine.

"We pray to Allah that his death is accepted as shahiid (martyr) and he will be in our prayers. May Allah bless him," Zain Kamaruddin, the president of the JIM Kuala Lumpur section, told IOL.

He said the death of Sheikh Yassin is part of the struggle for the liberation of Palestine.

"The Palestinian struggle has nothing to do with terrorism but it is a struggle for the freeing of Muslim land which is under occupation in Palestine," stressed the JIM official.

The Party Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) too condemned the assassination, asserting that the Zionists could not kill the Palestinian struggle by eliminating the spiritual leader of the Hamas.

The party's website on Tuesday carried a profile of Sheikh Yassin, tracing his life from his birth to his assassination, which has drawn a wave of international condemnation.