Kill MAHB deal, MP says after Hamas leader's assassination

Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Abdul Karim urged the government to cancel the Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) deal after the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

In a statement, the PKR MP said Malaysia must stop any form of direct or indirect cooperation with entities closely linked to the Zionist regime.

“At a time when the Malaysian community is mourning and saddened by Ismail's death, it is appropriate for Malaysia to cancel the sale of the majority of the shares of MAHB, a strategic company in our country, to Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), which Blackrock controls,” he said.

However, GIP will have an effective stake of 25 percent in MAHB if the deal goes through.

The deal refers to a controversy that began on May 15 when Khazanah Nasional Berhad revealed that the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and GIP, through GIP Aurea Pte Ltd, would form a consortium to acquire shares in the airport operator.

The decision faced criticism from various parties after it was discovered that Blackrock, a company perceived to have ties with Israel, is acquiring GIP.

Towards a sovereign Palestinian state

Yesterday, Ismail was killed in his residence in Tehran, Iran.

Al Jazeera reported Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as saying that Ismail was assassinated alongside one of his bodyguards and has launched an investigation into the matter.

In his statement, Hassan said the people of the world are responsible for implementing the International Court of Justice (ICJ) decision, in which the latter said that Israel’s settlement activities in the Palestinian territories violate international law.

Ismail Haniyeh

The decision, made on July 19 by court president Nawaf Salam, is important so that the deaths of the Palestinians in Gaza would not be in vain, Hassan added.

“I call on the Malaysian government in particular to mobilise its dynamic international diplomatic initiatives towards the independence of a sovereign Palestinian state,” he said.

The government’s official stance on the Palestine war is for the two-state solution, which involves the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside the state of Israel.

According to the Foreign Ministry, this is “based on pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.” - Mkini