Monday, 17 March 2014
Muslim insurgents shoot then set on fire Buddhist teacher in Thailand
A 42-year-old Buddhist teacher on her way to school in southern Thailand on Friday was targeted and shot twice in the head, then doused in gasoline and set on fire…
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A 42-year-old Buddhist teacher on her way to school in southern Thailand on Friday was targeted and shot twice in the head, then doused in gasoline and set on fire by suspected Muslim insurgents.
The woman taught English and was riding her motorcycle to work when the gunman — who was riding his own motorbike — fired off the shots to her head, said police Maj. Gen. Pete Susysuwan, in The Associated Press. Other suspected insurgents then helped to set her body on fire, police said.
“She is apparently a victim of the insurgency, not personal issues, because the suspects scattered fliers with anti-Buddhist messages before they fled,” he said, in the AP report.
The authorities are still seeking the suspects.
More than 5,000 have been killed in Islamic insurgency attacks that have gone forth in Thailand since 2004, AP reported.
Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/mar/14/muslim-insurgents-shoot-then-set-fire-buddhist-tea/#ixzz2wAkkRYUs
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter
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The woman taught English and was riding her motorcycle to work when the gunman — who was riding his own motorbike — fired off the shots to her head, said police Maj. Gen. Pete Susysuwan, in The Associated Press. Other suspected insurgents then helped to set her body on fire, police said.
“She is apparently a victim of the insurgency, not personal issues, because the suspects scattered fliers with anti-Buddhist messages before they fled,” he said, in the AP report.
The authorities are still seeking the suspects.
More than 5,000 have been killed in Islamic insurgency attacks that have gone forth in Thailand since 2004, AP reported.
Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/mar/14/muslim-insurgents-shoot-then-set-fire-buddhist-tea/#ixzz2wAkkRYUs
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter
Labels:
Islam Discrimination
Crowd sets fire to Hindu center in Pakistan
KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — An angry crowd set fire to a Hindu community center in southern Pakistan after allegations circulated that a Hindu had desecrated Islam's holy book, police said…
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KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — An angry crowd set fire to a Hindu community center in southern Pakistan after allegations circulated that a Hindu had desecrated Islam's holy book, police said Sunday.
The incident took place overnight in the city of Larkana in Sindh province after some people said they saw burned pages of the Quran in a garbage bin near the home of a Hindu man, said Anwar Laghari, the area police officer.
Violence triggered by allegations of Quran desecration and other allegedly blasphemous acts is common in conservative Pakistan. A controversial Pakistani law imposes the death penalty, but sometimes crowds take the law into their own hands and attacked the accused, often members of a religious minority in the majority Sunni Muslim state.
Laghari said that a crowd of about 200 angry people gathered and attacked the community center, which was next to a Hindu temple. He said the building was partly gutted, while the alleged desecrater and his family members were taken into protective custody.
The officer said initial investigation revealed that the Hindu rented the house from a Muslim family and cleaned it before he moved in. He may have burned the holy book inadvertently, the policeman said.
Crowds also attacked Hindu property in the nearby towns of Usta Mohammad, Dera Allah Yar and Sohbat Pur, but they were dispersed by police, senior officer Syed Ashfaq Anwar said. They are in a part of adjoining Baluchistan province where significant numbers of Hindus live.
Anwar said dozens attempted to set fire to a temple and some shops owned by Hindus. Police fired tear gas shot and shot into the air. He said someone from the crowd fired at the police, and two civilians and an officer were wounded.
AP writer Abdul Sattar in Quetta, Pakistan, contributed to this report.
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The incident took place overnight in the city of Larkana in Sindh province after some people said they saw burned pages of the Quran in a garbage bin near the home of a Hindu man, said Anwar Laghari, the area police officer.
Violence triggered by allegations of Quran desecration and other allegedly blasphemous acts is common in conservative Pakistan. A controversial Pakistani law imposes the death penalty, but sometimes crowds take the law into their own hands and attacked the accused, often members of a religious minority in the majority Sunni Muslim state.
Laghari said that a crowd of about 200 angry people gathered and attacked the community center, which was next to a Hindu temple. He said the building was partly gutted, while the alleged desecrater and his family members were taken into protective custody.
The officer said initial investigation revealed that the Hindu rented the house from a Muslim family and cleaned it before he moved in. He may have burned the holy book inadvertently, the policeman said.
Crowds also attacked Hindu property in the nearby towns of Usta Mohammad, Dera Allah Yar and Sohbat Pur, but they were dispersed by police, senior officer Syed Ashfaq Anwar said. They are in a part of adjoining Baluchistan province where significant numbers of Hindus live.
Anwar said dozens attempted to set fire to a temple and some shops owned by Hindus. Police fired tear gas shot and shot into the air. He said someone from the crowd fired at the police, and two civilians and an officer were wounded.
AP writer Abdul Sattar in Quetta, Pakistan, contributed to this report.
Labels:
Hindu
Police classify missing flight MH370 as ‘act of terrorism’
Police have classified the case of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 as an act of terrorism, which also included hijacking and sabotage, said the Inspector-General of Police.Tan Sri…
Police have classified the case of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 as an act of terrorism, which also included hijacking and sabotage, said the Inspector-General of Police.Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar told reporters today all procedures under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 applied here.
This, he said, would also provide investigation under the Aviation Offences Act.
Khalid also said that police are still focusing on four areas of investigations which include hijacking, sabotage, personal and psychological problems.
"That doesn't change," he said.
Malaysian authorities said yesterday that the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, carrying 239 passengers and crew, was deliberately diverted and had its onboard transmission devices switched off to avoid detection.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said that investigations showed that the passenger jet's movements and shutdown of communication links were deliberate acts, but had stopped short of calling the entire scenario a hijack.
The focus of the investigations is now on the 53-year-old pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah and co-pilot, 27-year-old Fariq Abdul Hamid.
Police yesterday conducted a search Zaharie's home, where they seized a flight simulator. A similar search was also carried out in Fariq's home.
"In light of the new development, we went to his house and took possession of the flight simulator.
"We dismantled it from the home and we have assembled it at our office. We are getting experts to go through it," Khalid said.
When asked why the search was not done earlier, Khalid said that authorities had not seen a necessity earlier.
He also said that Malaysia had yet to receive reports on background checks on all passengers on board the missing flight MH370 from their respective countries.
"There are still a few countries yet to respond to our request for a background check. China and India have done it," he said.
However, he added that a few intelligence agencies have cleared all passengers but declined to reveal further.
"We are investigating all passengers and crew. Only a few agencies have cleared them, not all," he said. – March 16, 2014.
Pilot and co-pilot did not ask to fly together
MH370 The
pilot and the co-pilot of the missing flight MH370 did not request to
fly together based on information from MAS, says acting Transport
Minister Hishammuddin Hussein.
He…
MH370 The
pilot and the co-pilot of the missing flight MH370 did not request to
fly together based on information from MAS, says acting Transport
Minister Hishammuddin Hussein.
He added that he would not comment on speculation on what might have
caused the aircraft to deviate from its original flight path to avoid
prejudicing ongoing investigations.
"I understand the hunger for new details. But we do not want to jump to conclusions.
"Out of respect to the families, and the process itself, we must wait
for the investigation to run its course,” he said at the daily press
conference on the MH370 crisis today.
Police are currently investigating all 239 crew and passengers on board, as well has ground crew who had handled the aircraft.
There had been intense speculation that Boeing 777-200ER’s pilot Zaharie
Ahmad Shah and co-pilot Fariq Ab Hamid were responsible for the flight
deviation, following confirmation that the aircraft had been
deliberately taken far off course.
Meanwhile, Inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar denied media
reports that Malaysian authorities have repeatedly rejected Interpol’s
offers to help with investigations.
"That is not true, we work with every agency including Interpol," he told the same press conference.
Terrorism law invoked
He added that the case is now being investigated under Section 130C of the Penal Code, which deals with acts of terrorism.
"This provides for investigation into offences of hijacking, sabotage,
acts of terrorism, and all offences under the Aviation Offence Act, so
that covers everything.
"That means we are intensifying our investigation, but our focus (on the
four areas) remain the same," he said, referring to possibility of
hijacking, sabotage, personal problems of passengers and crew, and
psychological problems of passengers and crew.
The provision also allows the police to invoke special powers under the
Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma), he said.
Thus far, he said some foreign intelligence agencies have cleared all
passengers onboard flight MH370, but it is still waiting for a response
on Malaysia’s request for background checks from other countries.
However, he stressed that all passengers and crew are still under investigation, in addition to the ground crew.
When asked about the police search at the pilot and co-pilot's
residence, Khalid said police have disassembled Zaharie’s flight
simulator and reassembled it at a police office to be examined by
experts.
Labels:
MAS
MH370 destined for an Indian terror attack?
The speculation was made former US deputy secretary of state Strobe Talbott.
PETALING JAYA: Was Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 hijacked to enable a Sept 11 type of terrorist attack on…
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The speculation was made former US deputy secretary of state Strobe Talbott.
PETALING JAYA: Was Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 hijacked to enable a Sept 11 type of terrorist attack on an Indian city?
This was a theory postulated by former US deputy secretary of state Strobe Talbott in his Twitter on Saturday.
“Malaysian plane mystery: Direction, fuel load & range now lead some to suspect hijackers planned a 9/11-type attack on an Indian city,” he tweeted.
He then tweeted a second theory to say that the hijackers were headed towards India but crashed just like the third plane involved in the Sept 11 attacks on the US.
“Malaysian#370 as hijack: 1 of many theories. Speculation: hijackers headed toward India but crashed like UA#93 on 9/11,” he tweeted.
Talbott, a foreign policy analyst is currently chairman of Brooklyn Institution.
Yesterday Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak in his first press conference on the missing MH370 said the jetliner’s main communications and transponder had been deliberately shut off.
He said that the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) was disabled just before the aircraft reached the east coast of peninsular Malaysia.
He added that the Beijing bound flight made a U-turn and headed towards the Andaman Sea.
In a related development, India suspended its search for Malaysia Airlines flight 370 around the remote Andaman and Nicobar Islands and in the Bay of Bengal and is awaiting a new request from Malaysia.
“The entire operation is on hold for now. We are awaiting fresh instructions from Malaysia,” said Colonel Harmit Singh, spokesman for India’s army, navy and airforce command in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
“None of the planes from our air fleet took off today. Even the navy vessels involved in search operations have moved to another island,” Singh told AFP.
Yesterday, national news agency Bernama reported that the Indian navy was expanding its search until the coast of Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu.
The ill-fated flight carrying 239 passengers and crew lost contact with main air traffic control at 1.30am on March 8.
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This was a theory postulated by former US deputy secretary of state Strobe Talbott in his Twitter on Saturday.
“Malaysian plane mystery: Direction, fuel load & range now lead some to suspect hijackers planned a 9/11-type attack on an Indian city,” he tweeted.
He then tweeted a second theory to say that the hijackers were headed towards India but crashed just like the third plane involved in the Sept 11 attacks on the US.
“Malaysian#370 as hijack: 1 of many theories. Speculation: hijackers headed toward India but crashed like UA#93 on 9/11,” he tweeted.
Talbott, a foreign policy analyst is currently chairman of Brooklyn Institution.
Yesterday Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak in his first press conference on the missing MH370 said the jetliner’s main communications and transponder had been deliberately shut off.
He said that the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) was disabled just before the aircraft reached the east coast of peninsular Malaysia.
He added that the Beijing bound flight made a U-turn and headed towards the Andaman Sea.
In a related development, India suspended its search for Malaysia Airlines flight 370 around the remote Andaman and Nicobar Islands and in the Bay of Bengal and is awaiting a new request from Malaysia.
“The entire operation is on hold for now. We are awaiting fresh instructions from Malaysia,” said Colonel Harmit Singh, spokesman for India’s army, navy and airforce command in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
“None of the planes from our air fleet took off today. Even the navy vessels involved in search operations have moved to another island,” Singh told AFP.
Yesterday, national news agency Bernama reported that the Indian navy was expanding its search until the coast of Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu.
The ill-fated flight carrying 239 passengers and crew lost contact with main air traffic control at 1.30am on March 8.
Labels:
MAS
Pilot comes under scrutiny as friends defend him
Foreign reports are increasingly identifying those in the cockpit as being responsible for the mysterious vanishing of MH370
(FMT) – Friends of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 pilot Capt Zaharie…
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Foreign reports are increasingly identifying those in the cockpit as being responsible for the mysterious vanishing of MH370
(FMT) – Friends of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 pilot Capt Zaharie Ahmad Shah have come out to defend him as investigators started focusing on those in the cockpit for probably being responsible for the disappearance of the jetliner.
“Things are pointing towards [him] probably [being] the cause of the thing, terrorism and all that. I think that’s not fair because nobody knows what’s happening. That’s why I decided to come forward and speak,” Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post quoted Peter Chong, 51, as saying today.
“I don’t blame people for exploring every angle. But until there is proof that he is a terrorist, I will not accept it,” said Chong, according to the report.
Chong described Zaharie as a “caring man and a professional and dedicated pilot” who always puts the safety of his passengers first.
Chong, who is also PKR’s Subang MP R Sivarasa’s secretary, said that Zaharie was a close friend and fellow member of PKR.
Saying that he had met Zaharie two years ago, Chong said they were close and spoke regularly. The last time they spoke was a week before the ill-fated flight took off to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur.
“There was nothing unusual about him that time, and nothing unusual in the recent few months also,” Chong was quoted as saying in the daily.
“The Malaysian government may play with his political membership with the opposition party, but I think it’s got nothing to do with this. I hope to let the families of the passengers know their lives were in the hands of somebody good,” he said.
Another friend and former classmate Mohd Nasir Othman was quoted in The Star as describing Zaharie as a gentle grandfather who would “never compromise his passengers’ safety”.
“He would never do anything that would endanger people’s lives,” the daily quoted Mohd Nasir as saying. The paper also quoted several other old friends of the pilot who defended his professionalism.
The focus shifted to the pilots following Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s disclosure yesterday that the missing Malaysia Airlines was deliberately steered off course after its communication system was switched off.
He said it headed west over the Malaysian seaboard and could have flown for another seven hours on its fuel reserves.
Investigators also said that the plane was flown off course by a “skilled and competent” flyer.
Obsessed with politics
UK’s Mail on Sunday meanwhile reported that the police were investigating the possibility that the pilot hijacked his own aircraft in a bizarre political protest.
The daily said it had learned that Zaharie was an ‘obsessive’ supporter of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.
It also claimed that police sources confirmed that Zaharie was a vocal political activist – and fear that the recent Court of Appeal decision to sentence Anwar to five years jail for sodomy had left him profoundly upset.
“It was against this background that, seven hours later, he took control of a Boeing 777-200 bound for Beijing and carrying 238 passengers and crew,” said the newspaper.
The police had inspected Zaharie’s house yesterday. They had also inspected co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid’s house, and are believed to be looking into the political and religious backgrounds of both the pilots.
The UK daily also said that Zaharie’s co-workers have told investigators the veteran pilot was a social activist who was vocal and fervent in his support of Anwar.
“Colleagues made it clear to us that he was someone who held strong political beliefs and was strident in his support for Anwar Ibrahim,” the Mail quoted another investigation source as saying.
“We were told by one colleague he was obsessed with politics,” added the report in quoting the source.
Out of fuel
Meanwhile CNN said the police raids into the houses of the two pilots yesterday were done only after the authorities believed they had sufficient reason to go through the residences.
Quoting US intelligence officials, CNN said the government had been looking for a reason to search the home of the pilot and the co-pilot for several days.
“But it was only in the last 24 to 36 hours, when radar and satellite data came to light, that authorities believed they had sufficient reason to go through the residences,” added the global broadcaster.
“The Malaysians don’t do this lightly,” the official said.
CNN however added that it was not clear whether the Malaysian government believed one or both the pilots could have been responsible for whatever happened to the plane.
It added that no final conclusions have been drawn and all the internal intelligence discussions are based on preliminary assessments of what is known to date, stating that other scenarios could still emerge.
CNN also reported that the investigators will scour through the flight manifest and look further to see whether anyone on board had flight training or connections to terror groups.
“A senior US law enforcement official told CNN that investigators are carefully reviewing the information so far collected on the pilots to determine whether there is something to indicate a motivation or indication of what may have happened.
“That would seem supported by preliminary US intelligence reports, which the US official said show the jetliner was in some form of controlled flight at a relatively stable altitude and path when it changed course and flew toward the Indian Ocean. It is presumed by US officials to have crashed, perhaps after running out of fuel,” added the CNN report.
Tian Chua: Don’t blame us
Meanwhile PKR vice-president Tian Chua said allegations that the pilots had a role in the disappearance of MH370 plane was totally speculative.
“It is irresponsible to make insinuation without verified information,” he said in a statement, adding that his party or Pakatan Rakyat abhorred any form of terrorism or violence.
“We urge the federal government not to use this as a pretext or opportunity to implicate or to frame Pakatan Rakyat component parties or their leaders.
“PKR and our alliance in Pakatan Rakyat are committed to a peaceful and constitutional means of political struggle.
“We have consistently denounced violence and any form of terrorism,” said the MP for Batu.
He added that the federal government should be collaborating with international agencies and continue to step up its efforts in conducting a thorough and professional investigation into the incident.
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“Things are pointing towards [him] probably [being] the cause of the thing, terrorism and all that. I think that’s not fair because nobody knows what’s happening. That’s why I decided to come forward and speak,” Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post quoted Peter Chong, 51, as saying today.
“I don’t blame people for exploring every angle. But until there is proof that he is a terrorist, I will not accept it,” said Chong, according to the report.
Chong described Zaharie as a “caring man and a professional and dedicated pilot” who always puts the safety of his passengers first.
Chong, who is also PKR’s Subang MP R Sivarasa’s secretary, said that Zaharie was a close friend and fellow member of PKR.
Saying that he had met Zaharie two years ago, Chong said they were close and spoke regularly. The last time they spoke was a week before the ill-fated flight took off to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur.
“There was nothing unusual about him that time, and nothing unusual in the recent few months also,” Chong was quoted as saying in the daily.
“The Malaysian government may play with his political membership with the opposition party, but I think it’s got nothing to do with this. I hope to let the families of the passengers know their lives were in the hands of somebody good,” he said.
Another friend and former classmate Mohd Nasir Othman was quoted in The Star as describing Zaharie as a gentle grandfather who would “never compromise his passengers’ safety”.
“He would never do anything that would endanger people’s lives,” the daily quoted Mohd Nasir as saying. The paper also quoted several other old friends of the pilot who defended his professionalism.
The focus shifted to the pilots following Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s disclosure yesterday that the missing Malaysia Airlines was deliberately steered off course after its communication system was switched off.
He said it headed west over the Malaysian seaboard and could have flown for another seven hours on its fuel reserves.
Investigators also said that the plane was flown off course by a “skilled and competent” flyer.
Obsessed with politics
UK’s Mail on Sunday meanwhile reported that the police were investigating the possibility that the pilot hijacked his own aircraft in a bizarre political protest.
The daily said it had learned that Zaharie was an ‘obsessive’ supporter of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.
It also claimed that police sources confirmed that Zaharie was a vocal political activist – and fear that the recent Court of Appeal decision to sentence Anwar to five years jail for sodomy had left him profoundly upset.
“It was against this background that, seven hours later, he took control of a Boeing 777-200 bound for Beijing and carrying 238 passengers and crew,” said the newspaper.
The police had inspected Zaharie’s house yesterday. They had also inspected co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid’s house, and are believed to be looking into the political and religious backgrounds of both the pilots.
The UK daily also said that Zaharie’s co-workers have told investigators the veteran pilot was a social activist who was vocal and fervent in his support of Anwar.
“Colleagues made it clear to us that he was someone who held strong political beliefs and was strident in his support for Anwar Ibrahim,” the Mail quoted another investigation source as saying.
“We were told by one colleague he was obsessed with politics,” added the report in quoting the source.
Out of fuel
Meanwhile CNN said the police raids into the houses of the two pilots yesterday were done only after the authorities believed they had sufficient reason to go through the residences.
Quoting US intelligence officials, CNN said the government had been looking for a reason to search the home of the pilot and the co-pilot for several days.
“But it was only in the last 24 to 36 hours, when radar and satellite data came to light, that authorities believed they had sufficient reason to go through the residences,” added the global broadcaster.
“The Malaysians don’t do this lightly,” the official said.
CNN however added that it was not clear whether the Malaysian government believed one or both the pilots could have been responsible for whatever happened to the plane.
It added that no final conclusions have been drawn and all the internal intelligence discussions are based on preliminary assessments of what is known to date, stating that other scenarios could still emerge.
CNN also reported that the investigators will scour through the flight manifest and look further to see whether anyone on board had flight training or connections to terror groups.
“A senior US law enforcement official told CNN that investigators are carefully reviewing the information so far collected on the pilots to determine whether there is something to indicate a motivation or indication of what may have happened.
“That would seem supported by preliminary US intelligence reports, which the US official said show the jetliner was in some form of controlled flight at a relatively stable altitude and path when it changed course and flew toward the Indian Ocean. It is presumed by US officials to have crashed, perhaps after running out of fuel,” added the CNN report.
Meanwhile PKR vice-president Tian Chua said allegations that the pilots had a role in the disappearance of MH370 plane was totally speculative.
“It is irresponsible to make insinuation without verified information,” he said in a statement, adding that his party or Pakatan Rakyat abhorred any form of terrorism or violence.
“We urge the federal government not to use this as a pretext or opportunity to implicate or to frame Pakatan Rakyat component parties or their leaders.
“PKR and our alliance in Pakatan Rakyat are committed to a peaceful and constitutional means of political struggle.
“We have consistently denounced violence and any form of terrorism,” said the MP for Batu.
He added that the federal government should be collaborating with international agencies and continue to step up its efforts in conducting a thorough and professional investigation into the incident.
Labels:
MAS
Criminal probe under way in plane drama
Saturday’s startling revelations that the Boeing 777′s communications systems had been manually switched off before the jet veered westward and flew on for hours raised more perplexing and deeply troubling questions about the fate of the plane and its 239 passengers and crew.
“Who? Why? Where?” ran the front page headline of the Malaysian government-controlled New Straits Times.
Briefing the press on Saturday, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak declined to use the word hijack, but said the new data suggesting a “deliberate action” by someone on board meant investigators had “refocused their investigation into crew and passengers”.
For anguished relatives, the news was a double-edged sword — holding out the slim hope that hijackers had landed the plane somewhere, while ushering in another agonising open-ended waiting period.
Relatives of Bob and Cathy Lawton, a missing Australian couple, said they were horrified by the notion of a drawn-out hijack ordeal.
What did they put up with?
“That’s one of the worst things I could have hoped for,” Bob’s brother David Lawton told News Limited newspapers.
“Even if they are alive, what did they have to put up with?”
He said the family was struggling to come to terms with the idea that the couple might never come home and trying not to lose hope.
“We have hopes and dreams that something might come, but at the moment we just don’t know. It’s all up in the air.”
The scope for speculation is as broad as the new search area that stretches from Kazakhstan to the southern Indian Ocean.
Expert opinion that disabling the communications system required specialist knowledge of the Boeing 777 has intensified scrutiny of Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah and his First Officer, Fariq Abdul Hamid.
Scott Hamilton, managing director of US-based aerospace consultancy Leeham Co, said Najib’s refusal to confirm a hijacking was telling.
“It sounded to me that the pilots haven’t been ruled out. He was saying don’t focus only on hijackers,” Hamilton said.
Malaysian media reported that investigators had gone to the homes of both pilots on Saturday, although police refused to confirm.
Friends and colleagues of both men have testified to their good character, but questions have been raised over a flight simulator Zaharie had built at home, even though aviation commentators have said this is not uncommon.
Fariq’s record was queried after a woman said he had allowed her and a friend to ride in the cockpit of a separate flight.
The alternative scenario that the cockpit was taken over or the pilots coerced, opens a Pandora’s Box of possibilities as to who might be involved and with what motive.
Two passengers who boarded the plane with stolen EU passports have been identified as Iranians by Interpol, who said they were most likely illegal immigrants who did not fit terrorist profiles.
The fact that most of the passengers on board the Beijing-bound flight were Chinese has raised the possibility of involvement by militants from China’s Muslim ethnic Uighur minority.
Still early days
Security experts warned against jumping to conclusions on the basis of partial, flimsy evidence.
“We have to keep in mind that it’s still early in the investigation, even though we’re a week out from the plane taking off,” said Anthony Brickhouse, a member of the International Society of Air Safety Investigators.
“We still really don’t have a lot of evidence to go on. We don’t have any wreckage, we don’t have the plane itself, we don’t have a lot of electronic data from the aircraft.”
The search is now focused on two flight corridors — a northern one stretching from northern Thailand to Kazakhstan and a southern zone from Indonesia towards the southern Indian Ocean.
The last satellite communication from the plane on March 8 came after it had been in the air almost eight hours — around the time the airline has said it would have run out of fuel.
Several analysts favoured a route along the southern corridor over the ocean, saying the northern one would have required the plane to travel undetected through numerous national airspaces in a strategically sensitive region.
“I just can’t think of a scenario where this aircraft is sitting on a runway somewhere,” said Brickhouse.
Hamilton said a crash in the ocean was the likeliest scenario and one that presented a daunting search and recovery challenge.
“Any floating debris will be widely dispersed and the main debris on the sea floor,” he said.
More than a dozen countries have deployed over 100 vessels and aircraft to support the operation.
Meanwhile India on Sunday suspended its search for MH370 around the remote Andaman and Nicobar Islands and in the Bay of Bengal and are awaiting fresh instructions from Malaysia, a defence official said.
“The entire operation is on hold for now. We are awaiting fresh instructions from Malaysia. Nothing came out of the search in designated areas on Saturday,” said Colonel Harmit Singh, spokesman for India’s army, navy and airforce command in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Labels:
MAS
Pakistan says MH370 did not land there
Pakistan’s Special Assistant to…
Pakistan’s Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Aviation Shujaat Azeem told news portal Dawn.com that the country’s military did not observe the Boeing 777-200ER approach or enter its airspace.
“It’s wrong, (the) plane never came towards Pakistan,” he was quoted as saying in the report.
India today similarly discounted the possibility of the plane entering its airspace.
Yesterday, Malaysia revealed that satellite data has allowed investigators to arrive at two “corridors” where the plane could possibly be located: a northern arc from northern Thailand to the border of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan in central Asia, or a southern one from Indonesia to the southern Indian Ocean.
The northern corridor would have brought the plane towards South Asia.
The northern option crosses heavily-militarised zones that made it unlikely that an unidentified aircraft the size of the Boeing 777 could have slipped past unnoticed. A defence industry executive said interceptors would have been deployed immediately once its presence was detected.
Labels:
MAS
Malaysia Leaves No Stone Unturned On MH370 Probe
KUALA LUMPUR, March 16 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian authorities leave no stone unturned in their investigation of the missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) MH370, which now enters its ninth day, since…
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KUALA LUMPUR, March 16 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian authorities leave no stone unturned in their investigation of the missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) MH370, which now enters its ninth day, since the aircraft disappeared on March 8.
The background checks of all the 239 MH370 passengers and crew, including the engineers, who may have had contact with the aircraft before take-off, could help the police to establish a motive behind its disappearance.
It could probably shed some lights to the authority on where the plane might have gone after the plane diverted twice from its original route to Beijing, China.
Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said police had spoken to family members of the MH370 pilot, Capt Zaharie Ahmad Shah, 53, and experts were examining the pilot's flight simulator.
He said the police also searched the home of the co-pilot, Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27.
The Beijing-bound Boeing 777-200ER aircraft with 227 passengers and 12 crew onboard vanished from the radar about an hour after leaving the KLIA at 12.41am on March 8. It was scheduled to arrive in Beijing, China at 6.30 am the same day.
The fate of the passengers is still unknown as the search and rescue (SAR) operations have yet to locate the missing aircraft.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Flight MH370 had deviated from its original path and flew in a westerly direction back over peninsular Malaysia before turning northwest.
The aircraft's last communication with the satellite was in one of two possible corridors - northern or southern.
Based on the flight projection, Malaysian authority believed the plane could have gone into one of the flight corridors which was a northern corridor stretching approximately from the border of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to northern Thailand, or a southern corridor stretching approximately from Indonesia to the southern Indian Ocean.
On the SAR, Hishammuddin said Malaysian officials were liaising with 15 countries along the northern and southern corridors for assistance in relation to the missing aircraft.
"Malaysian officials are currently discussing with all partners how best to deploy assets along the two corridors," he said.
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The background checks of all the 239 MH370 passengers and crew, including the engineers, who may have had contact with the aircraft before take-off, could help the police to establish a motive behind its disappearance.
It could probably shed some lights to the authority on where the plane might have gone after the plane diverted twice from its original route to Beijing, China.
Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said police had spoken to family members of the MH370 pilot, Capt Zaharie Ahmad Shah, 53, and experts were examining the pilot's flight simulator.
He said the police also searched the home of the co-pilot, Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27.
The Beijing-bound Boeing 777-200ER aircraft with 227 passengers and 12 crew onboard vanished from the radar about an hour after leaving the KLIA at 12.41am on March 8. It was scheduled to arrive in Beijing, China at 6.30 am the same day.
The fate of the passengers is still unknown as the search and rescue (SAR) operations have yet to locate the missing aircraft.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Flight MH370 had deviated from its original path and flew in a westerly direction back over peninsular Malaysia before turning northwest.
The aircraft's last communication with the satellite was in one of two possible corridors - northern or southern.
Based on the flight projection, Malaysian authority believed the plane could have gone into one of the flight corridors which was a northern corridor stretching approximately from the border of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to northern Thailand, or a southern corridor stretching approximately from Indonesia to the southern Indian Ocean.
On the SAR, Hishammuddin said Malaysian officials were liaising with 15 countries along the northern and southern corridors for assistance in relation to the missing aircraft.
"Malaysian officials are currently discussing with all partners how best to deploy assets along the two corridors," he said.
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