KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today joined some 3,000 congregants in performing absentee funeral prayer for Hamas Political Bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh at Masjid Negara here.

The prayer was performed right after the Friday prayers and led by the Grand Imam Ehsan Mohd Hosni.

Also present were Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Dr Mohd Na'im Mokhtar and Chief of Defence Forces General Tan Sri Mohammad Ab Rahman.

Earlier, Ehsan also delivered a special Friday sermon, "Perjuangan Demi Nusa Tercinta" in conjunction with the Warriors' Day 2024 celebration.

On Wednesday, Mohd Na'im reportedly called on all mosques under the supervision of the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM) and the Federal Territory Islamic Religious Department (JAWI) to organise absentee funeral prayers for Haniyeh.

Haniyeh, who was also the former Prime Minister of Palestine, was reported to have been killed in an airstrike that targeted his residence in Tehran, Iran, in the early hours of July 31. He was there to attend the inauguration of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

-- BERNAMA