KUALA LUMPUR, November 24. /TASS/. Malaysia has expressed concern over the actually “unilateral action” taken by the Netherlands whose officials have announced the completion of the collection of the fragments of the Boeing plane (Flight MH17) that crashed in Ukraine, an informed source in the Malaysian capital told TASS.
The crash, believed to have been caused by a surface-to-air missile, killed all 298 passengers and crew, two-thirds of them from the Netherlands.
Malaysian representatives insisted on their mandatory participation in the work at the crash site, including the study and removal of the airliner wreckage and now it is unknown in which condition they will take to the expert examination, he said. Also, Malaysia has still not been given an opportunity to participate in the criminal investigation, contrary to the promise given by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in Kuala Lumpur on November 5.
According to the source, Malaysia believes that due to its neutral position on the conclusions concerning the causes of the catastrophe, as well as owing to the fact that it put forward no accusations, a number of countries participating in the investigation are doing everything possible not to admit Malaysian representatives to the full-fledged investigation.
Malaysian police head Khalid Abu Bakar on November 19 demanded Malaysian experts’ active participation in the work of the joint investigation group. They should become the first members of the group, full-fledged participants in the criminal investigation, otherwise it will be difficult for Malaysia to participate in the investigation, Abu Bakar said. He also said he intended to travel to Amsterdam on December 3 to discuss problems related to Malaysia’s participation in the airliner crash probe.
The Boeing 777-200 of the Malaysia Airlines en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed on July 17 in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk Region, some 60 km (over 37 miles) from the Russian border, in the zone of combat operations between the Donetsk self-defence forces and the Ukrainian army. All the passengers and crewmembers onboard the aircraft - 298 people - died. Most of the passengers - 196 people - were Dutch citizens. The Dutch Safety Board, leading the investigation, plans to partly reconstruct the plane in the Netherlands in order to more thoroughly investigate the causes of the tragedy.
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