Mayat mangsa MH17 dibawa ke Belanda dulu, kata Najib

Envoy: Wrong for MH17 families to blame Putin

ISIS militants ransack Catholic monastery in Iraq

Islamic militants have seized a monastery in northern Iraq, kicking out its Christian monks as well as Christian residents of Mosul.

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/ISIS) insurgents stormed the ancient Mar Benham monastery in the Christian town of Qaraqosh Sunday, near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, which was overrun by ISIS on 10 June.

Mar Benham is a 4th century monastery run by the Syriac Catholic church.

A member of the Syriac clergy said the monks pleaded to be allowed to save some of the monastery’s relics but the ISIS fighters refused and ordered them to leave on foot with only the clothes on their back.

“You have no place here anymore, you have to leave immediately,” one of the militants told the monks, according to the clergyman.

The monks then walked several kilometers along a road and were eventually picked up by Kurdish Peshmerga fighters who drove them to Qaraqosh, AFP reported Monday.

Christian families in the area said that as well as the monks there may have been another nine people living in the monastery.

This is the latest move by ISIS, which is trying to create a caliphate in north eastern Syria and northern Iraq, a Salafist-orientated Islamist state, which follows an extreme anti-western interpretation of Islam, promotes religious violence and regards anyone with a different interpretation of religion as infidels and apostates.

Over the weekend hundreds of families from minority religions fled Mosul, a once multi-cultural, cosmopolitan city, which is the second largest in Iraq.

Leaders of Iraq’s Chaldean church said that Mosul is now virtually emptied of Christians for the first time in almost two millennia.

The ISIS insurgents issued an ultimatum to all Christians that they had until 19 July to either convert to Islam, leave or pay a special tax. If they don’t comply “then there is nothing to give them but the sword,” read the ominous ISIS threat.

Other groups, who have been persecuted in the Mosul area, include Yazidis, Shabak and Shiite Turkmen populations.

Mosul Christians are mostly Assyrians, or Chaldean’s, known as the Church of the East and are an eastern rite of the Catholic Church.

But ISIS’s treatment of Shia Muslims has been much worse than their treatment of Christians. 13 Shia mosques and shrines have been destroyed and there are reports of Shiites being held captive for ransom, repeatedly beaten and in some cases murdered.

ISIS already controls a vast swathe of northern Iraq and eastern Syria, larger than the area of Great Britain, although they aim to control even more territory stretching as far south as the Iraqi capital Baghdad and as far west as the Mediterranean in Syria.

In two separate incidents in ISIS controlled Syria two women were stoned to death for adultery. In one case a woman was allegedly stoned to death because her new husband found out she wasn’t a virgin.

“The Islamic State carried out, for the second time in 24 hours, the punishment of Al Rajem (stoning to death for adultery) against another woman in the city of Al Raqqa in a square near the municipal Stadium,” said an official from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

The report by SOHR, noted that the first woman to be executed was tried by an Islamic Sharia court, where neither of the witnesses who made the allegation were identified, and the man who was due to marry her was not charged.

The second incident also took place in Raqqa, where a 26-year old widow was stoned to death by ISIS militants in popular market late at night.

Since last year Raqqa has been the de-facto capital of the ISIS caliphate.

ISIS has in recent weeks become known as IS, which literally stand for Islamic State

Islamic bride, 12, duped into sex with husband, 26, was told Islamic law ‘overrides’ civil law

A CHILD bride allegedly married off at 12 was told sharia law “overrides” Australian law, court documents revealed.

In a case that has brought awareness of secret child brides in Australia, the girl’s father and the 26-year-old man she “wed” were charged in February over numerous child sex offences.

Documents that formed part of a successful apprehended violence order application by police at the time against the girl’s “husband” state that the young girl “believed or had been informed that sharia law overrides the Australian law”.

The 26-year-old man accused of marrying a 12-year-old girl. Source: Supplied

“She stated that together with the accused they had been trying to get him registered as her legal guardian with Centrelink in order to obtain any welfare benefits they could,” the court documents state.

The police allege in the AVO document that the 26-year-old man, who was charged with 25 counts of sexual intercourse with a child, admitted to officers on the day he was arrested that he had had sex with the girl daily since the religious ceremony in the living room of the girl’s Hunter Valley home on January 12.

“When questioned on this he showed no remorse and was confident that in doing this he had committed no crime,” the police documents state. His matter is still before the courts and he is being held at Villawood Detention Centre after his student visa was revoked.

The child and the Lebanese university student met at a mosque through the girl’s 62-year-old father who is a Muslim convert, police alleged.

The child bride’s father outside court/ Picture: Ross Schultz

The girl’s father, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is charged with procuring a child for sex and accessory before the fact to sexual intercourse with a child.

Dressed in a traditional Islamic tunic, the father-of-seven fronted Burwood Local Court yesterday where he was committed to stand trial in the Sydney District Court.

His lawyer Mario Licha said outside court the father would be defending the charges.

The alleged child bride, who is now 13, and her eight-year-old sister remain in the care of the Department of Community Services. -News.com.au

'No court order for police to get Indira's children'

 

The Syariah High Court did not issue any order to the  police to retrieve the children of K Pathmanathan @ Mohd Ridhuan Abdullah, who is involved in a bitter child custody battle with his former wife M Indira Gandhi, the High Court in Ipoh heard.

This was told to High Court judge Lee Swee Seng yesterday afternoon by Indira’s lawyer M Kulasegaran (left), after senior federal counsel Shamsulbol Hassan applied for a postponement of the hearing of Indira’s application to initiate judicial review to compel Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar to act on High Court order issued to him.

Shamsulbol applied for the postponement following the application by the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) to be intervener in the Indira case and in another Seremban child custody case involving S Deepa and her former husband N Viran @ Izwan Abdullah, which will be jointly heard on Thursday.

"Since the Deepa case is coming-up on Thursday, the AGC applied for a postponement. However, we objected as the circumstances in our matter are different from Deepa's case, and the High Court judge heard our application for leave.

"We told the court that the Ipoh High Court has given two orders, one granting custody of all of Indira's children to the mother and a warrant of arrest against Ridhuan and the other order compelling the police and IGP to find the whereabouts of Prasana Diksa (also known as Ummu Habibah) and return her to the Indira," Kulasegaran said.

He said Indira's case differed from Deepa's (left), in which Izwan obtained a Seremban Syariah High Court order that not only granted him custody of his children, but also compelled the police to help retrieve his children.

After explaining this to court, Kulasegaran said, Shamsulbol understood the difference and would seek further instructions.

Despite this, Kulasegaran, said the High Court in Ipoh may decide on Friday whether to grant leave (permission) to hear the application to compel the IGP and the police to act on the order issued to them.

Application filed last month

Indira, a kindergarten teacher, had applied for a judicial review order on June 30, compelling the IGP to act on the warrant of arrest issued against Ridhuan and the order to retrieve six-year-old Prasana Diksa, whom the father took away.

Ridhuan (left) had failed to comply with the Ipoh High Court order issued on May 30 that he returns Prasana Diksa to Indira.

The couple's two other children, aged 17 and 16, are staying with the mother.

IGP Khalid had said he was taking a middle path in the dispute as there were two conflicting orders, from the Syariah High Court and the civil High Court.

However, as Kulasegaran pointed out yesterday, this was not the case as in Indira's matter.

The Ipoh High Court had also last year declared the unilateral conversion of all three of Indira Gandhi's children to Islam by Pathmanathan @ Ridhuan null and void as it went against international norms.

Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patai in a statement last month said the AGC would intervene in the case on behalf of the IGP because these two cases had become a public interest matter following the conflicting orders issued.

This will be heard on Thursday, by the Court of Appeal. The IGP had obtained a stay of the Seremban Syariah High Court order compelling the police to retrieve Deepa's children and return them to the father.

Ex-CJ: Islam under threat in DAP-ruled Penang

 

Former chief justice Abdul Hamid Mohamad has highlighted the problems faced by Muslims in Penang, which he warned could spread if left unchecked.

Among others, he said a former Penang mufti told him that it was difficult to secure allocations for Islamic activities in the state as various religious groups wanted their fair share.

"If this is not stopped, it will spread to the whole of Malaysia. Maybe Islamic programmes will have to be shared with other religions.

"Government departments and campuses may be required to not only prepare surau but also churches, gurdwara and temples," he added.

Such a scenario, he said, would render the special position of Islam as the religion of the Federation meaningless.

Hamid (right) was speaking at a buka puasa event with several Islamic NGOs in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

A copy of his speech, titled "Protecting the constitution as the basis of the country", was also uploaded on his website.

The former chief justice, who hails from Penang, revealed that the mufti also informed him about an incident during the launching of a building in the state, which was attended by the deputy chief minister.

At this event, he said, prayers were done by a Christian priest, a Hindu priest and the imam of the state mosque.

"I am puzzled why would the imam participate in such a ceremony. Can't he think?" he asked.

"I am saddened to see Malays and Muslims behaving naively where they are made as tools and shout 'Allahu Akbar' while lying on road when it is non-Muslims who benefit," he added.

Hamid was referring to the protest that followed BN retaking Perak in the aftermath of the 2008 general election.

'Hidden agenda'

Commenting on the 'Allah' row, Hamid said he was puzzled that some Islamic scholars did not see the "hidden agenda" of the Roman Catholic Church.

He claimed that the church was disappointed for not being able to turn the Malays into Christians five centuries ago.

Earlier, Abdul Hamid held that Malays had changed drastically, and are seriously split now, following the people becoming affluent.

This had resulted in the majority group becoming a minority, which now uses Malay voters as a tool.

The split in the Malays resulted in the extremist groups to attack the Malays, criticise the royal institutions, insulting the Malay leaders and admonish Islam. 

Abdul Hamid reminded of the social contract that the Malays have with the non-Malays.

He cited Prof Shad Saleem Farouqi's book titled 'Document of Destiny: The Constitution of the Federation of Malaysia' where on page 710 it states that as a result of the 'social contract' between the various races, millions of migrants to British Malaya were bestowed with citizenship.

“It is believed that the number of citizens in Malaya doubled at the stroke of midnight on August 31, 1957 due to the constitutional grant,” Shad Saleem (right) wrote in the book.

Abdul Hamid further said the minority community should not complain about their freedom.

“Show me a country which gives rights to the minority? What happened to the Muslims in Rohingya? In a neighbouring country, the minority are asked to change their names.

“Show me any country which allows the formation of vernacular schools and also finance it. In Malaysia, the government does not prohibit them to practise their religion.

"Have they considered how easy it is to build their places of worship in Malaysia including on government land and even financing is given,” he said.

The former CJ warned the minority wanted to get rid of what the Malays have and they have become more daring as a result of the Malays being split and they have managed to influence certain Malay party leaders to work with them.

Maintain Sedition Act

Abdul Hamid also supported the retention of the Sedition Act 1948, but with some amendments.

“The reason given that the Sedition Act should be repealed and replaced is to achieve national unity is without basis. It is only a reason forwarded. What more the new Bill is being formulated by the Bar Council. We should not be tricked by this, as this is what they want,” he said.

“What is the benefit to the Malays, or those in Sabah and Sarawak, if people are allowed to question the special privileges allocated to the Malays based on Article 153 of the federal constitution. They do not want such a provision as they do not like it,” he said.

Abdul Hamid said without the Sedition Act, the constitutional monarchy, the position of Bahasa Melayu as the national language, and the special position of the Malays and the bumiputeras in Sabah and Sarawak would be challenged.

“That is what we must understand,” he said.

The former CJ was speaking at a function organised by the government-backed Yayasan Dakwah Islamiah Malaysia.

MH17 black boxes to be handed over to global probe team, Najib says

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the MH17 black boxes which were retrieved from the crash site will be handed to the international investigation team for further analysis.

He said the boxes appeared to be in good condition.

“They will held securely in Malaysian custody while the international investigation team is being formalised. At that time, we will pass the black boxes to the international investigation team,” he said in a statement today.

Najib expressed his satisfaction at the manner in which the agreement reached with the rebel leader Alexander Borodai, the self-styled Prime Minister of the Donetsk People's Republic, had progressed.

"The agreement with Borodai was to bring an end to the standoff over the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17," Najib said.

"Our agreement rests on three conditions, namely the return of the victims' remains, the handover of the flight recorder and full access to the crash site so that investigations can begin."

Najib said the first two conditions had been met as the flight recorders of MH17 had been handed over to Malaysian representatives.

"The train carrying the remains of the victims has arrived in Kharkhiv. Arrangements will be made to move the bodies to Amsterdam."

The Sydney Morning Herald today had reported that Najib had used “secret diplomacy” to reach an agreement with the rebels.

It added that while other world leaders blamed the separatists for their alleged hand in Thursday's crash, Najib had "cautiously refused" to join the chorus of blame, the paper reported.

Najib negotiated with rebel leader Alexander Borodai and sealed a deal "that achieved what more powerful nations, including Russia, could not".

Najib said that the discussions with Borodai had been due to extraordinary circumstances which called for extraordinary measures.

"There were risks in pursuing this agreement but we felt an obligation to explore all avenues to break the impasse.

"After meeting the next-of-kin of the victims, I felt we owed it to them to act to secure the remains of the victims and the flight recorders."

Najib said the agreement had been honoured and he hoped that the cooperation would continue.

"I hope that the investigators are granted full access to the crash site as was agreed upon."

He expressed relief that discussions had advanced sufficiently to achieve the breakthrough which has allowed all parties involved to move forward.

“I would like to thank the Malaysian team on the ground, who have worked hard to support this operation.

"Thanks to their efforts, we are closer to finding out what happened to aircraft, and fulfilling our shared responsibility to those who lost their lives.”

Earlier this morning, Russian ambassador to Malaysia Lyudmila G. Vorobyeva maintained her country's stance that it had not been involved in the MH17 disaster.

Vorobyeva said the various allegations which had been made against Russia had been baseless and without a shred of evidence.

She also thanked Putrajaya for its neutral stance in waiting for the results of an international probe instead of pointing fingers and making baseless accusations.

Vorobyeva told a press conference at the Russian embassy in Jalan Ampang today that Russia had been unfairly demonised by Western media.

"Where is the tangible evidence that Russia was involved in the MH17 disaster? All the finger pointing and accusations have been made without any proof.

"When the United States attacked Iraq in 2003, they claimed it was because the Middle Eastern country had weapons of mass destruction."

"However, until today, the world still awaits the evidence of WOMD which was the justification for the assault led by the United States."

She said the rebels in Donetsk did not possess the sophisticated BUK surface-to-air missile system nor had they been trained how to use it.

"The BUK missile system is a very sophisticated piece of equipment and only specially trained personnel can handle it."
- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/mh17-black-boxes-to-be-handed-over-to-global-probe-team-najib-says#sthash.Kvr4tXwl.dpuf

Mangsa penipuan gores menang mengamuk

Ibu tunggal enam anak kerugian RM50,000

SEREMBAN: Hilang sabar kerana tiada tindakan susulan yang tegas daripada pihak berkuasa, lebih 30 mangsa yang mendakwa ditipu oleh syarikat ‘gores dan menang’, mengamuk di hadapan premis syarikat berkenaan petang semalam.

Sejurus selepas bertemu pihak polis dan mengadakan sidang akhbar bersama Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri (ADUN), Port Dickson, M Ravi (PKR) dan Ahli Parlimen Rasah, Teo Kok Seong (DAP), ke semua mangsa terbabit berpakat untuk menyerbu pejabat syarikat ‘gores dan menang’ itu.

Walaubagaimanapun, pejabat syarikat itu didapati tutup dan berkunci. Beberapa mangsa yang hilang sabar menendang pintu pejabat tersebut.

Salah seorang mangsa, Sharifah Shikhah Said, 64, berkata beliau bersama dengan lain mangsa nekad untuk serbu pejabat syarikat tersebut untuk menuntut kembali wang mereka.

“Kami sudah muak berurusan dengan pihak berkuasa yang tolak menolak antara satu sama lain. Kami diperlakukan seperti bola, ditendang ke sana sini. Sedangkan syarikat tersebut bebas melakukan kegiatan mereka. Sampai sekarang tiada tindakan tegas diambil oleh pihak berkuasa atau kerajaan. Bayangkan, saya sudah membuat aduan kepada pihak berkaitan sejak April,” kata Sharifah Shikhah.

Sharifah Shikhah kerugian sebanyak RM12,300.

Memorandum kepada Menteri Dalam Negeri

Seorang ibu tunggal yang juga suri rumah dan mempunyai enam anak dari Port Dickson yang hanya mahu dikenali sebagai Roslin, 48, berkata beliau telah ditipu sebanyak RM50,000.

“Saya ditunjukkan senarai hadiah yang boleh dimenangi termasuk kereta Toyota Camry, pakej Umrah dan pakej melancong ke luar negara.

“Walaubagaimanapun saya ditawarkan juga skim gandakan wang.”

“Dengan pelaburan sebanyak RM35,000, saya dijanjikan akan mendapat RM50,000. Iaitu keuntungan sebanyak RM15,000.

“Atas sebab untuk menambah pendapatan saya menyerahkan duit RM50,000 secara berperingkat-peringkat.

“Saya percaya pada mereka, kerana ada sekali ketika saya dalam perjalanan ke pejabat mereka untuk membayar duit itu, salah seorang lelaki meminta saya menunaikan solat Zohor terlebih dahulu di sebuah surau sebelum pergi ke pejabat mereka.

“Mereka sentiasa telefon saya. Sebab itu saya percaya sebab tidak ada tanda-tanda mereka mahu tipu atau melarikan diri.

“Walaubagaimanapun selepas tidak mendapat pulangan seperti yang dijanjikan, saya sedar saya telah ditipu,” katanya.

Sementara itu Teo berkata beliau akan mengumpulkan maklumat sekitar 250 mangsa tersebut dan akan menyerahkan memorandum kepada Menteri Dalam Negeri, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahidi Hamidi.

“Saya juga akan bawa isu ini dalam sidang parlimen akan datang,” kata Teo. Ravi pula berjanji akan membawa perkara ini dalam Persidangan Dewan Undangan Negeri dan menyerahkan memorandum kepada Ketua Polis Negeri Sembilan, Datuk Osman Salleh.

Kiki fined, ordered to do social work

The steering lock wielder pays the price for her road rage

KUANTAN: Siti Fairrah Ashykin Kamaruddin, the woman caught on video abusing an elderly man and battering his car with a steering lock, was today fined RM5,000 and ordered to carry out 240 hours of community service.

Bernama reports that the 30-year-old Siti Fairrah, better known by her nickname Kiki, pleaded guilty at the Kuantan Sessions Court this morning to a charge of causing mischief and damage.

In passing the sentence, judge Zainal Abidin Kamarudin said she was lucky that the victim, Sim Siak Hing, had forgiven her and decided not to pursue the matter further.

Sim, 68, had earlier told the media that Kiki and her father apologised to him and that he promised them he would not make a police report or pursue criminal charges. Kiki became the talk of the nation after a video recording of the July 14 incident was uploaded on YouTube.

The clip inspired wisecracks, parodies and statements of reprimand from a broad spectrum of Malaysians.

Two days after the incident, Kiki posted a Facebook article apologising to “all Malaysians” for her behaviour and pleading for the removal of the video clip. In an interview with NTV7, she said: “This is my biggest mistake, and I know it is hard but I hope Malaysians can forgive me. That video has ruined my life.

Khalid tetap jalankan tugas sehingga perlantikan MB baru yang sah

(FMT) – Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim berkata beliau akan terus menjalankan tugas sebagai Menteri Besar Selangor dengan penuh tanggungjawab, tekun dan amanah sehingga proses perlantikan baru yang sah dilakukan. Pernyataan ini ekoran berita Wan Azizah di calonkan sebagai menteri besar yang baru untuk menggantikan beliau.

Menurutnya, beliau berpegang teguh kepada enakmen Undang-Undang Tubuh Kerajaan Negeri yang menetapkan tatacara yang khusus bagi perlantikan atau penggantian Menteri Besar.

“Saya percaya mereka yang terlibat dalam usaha ini perlu melalui proses-proses tersebut untuk mencapai matlamat yang mereka inginkan.

“Saya juga menghormati keputusan politik Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) yang mencalonkan Presiden PKR, Datin Seri Dr.Wan Azizah Wan Ismail sebagai Menteri Besar yang baharu,” katanya dalam satu kenyataan media.

Tambah Khalid, beliau akan terus menjalankan tugasnya seperti yang telah diamanahkan oleh rakyat Selangor yang telah memilihnya melalui proses pemilihan yang sah.

“Saya berharap rakyat Selangor tidak mudah terpengaruh dengan berita-berita fitnah, bersifat provokasi dan kontroversi kerana negeri Selangor mempunyai tatacara perlantikan Menteri Besar secara tertib dan beradab seperti yang termaktub dalam Undang-undang Tubuh Kerajaan Negeri.

“Saya ingin menegaskan kepada seluruh rakyat Selangor dan para pelabur bahawa isu ini tidak sedikit pun menjejaskan sistem pentadbiran negeri.” ujarnya.

Speaker: Opposition should form shadow Cabinet

(The Rakyat Post) – Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia today suggested that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) create a shadow Cabinet to smoothen the debate session during the parliamentary sittings.

He said this was to make it easier for the Opposition group to choose from among their parliamentarians those who were experts in their respective fields to debate on an issue more effectively.

“In most countries which practise parliamentary democracy, when one side loses in a general election, they will still set up a shadow Cabinet to debate on the issues according to their expertise.

“This way, sound ideas too can come from PR,” he said when met by reporters in his office at Parliament building, here.

Pandikar Amin was earlier asked on the Dewan Rakyat’s move to hold an emergency parliamentary sitting tomorrow to debate on a motion to condemn the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) plane, Flight MH17 in Ukraine last Thursday.

He advised the lawmakers involved in tomorrow’s debate to make good use of the time in debating on the issue of the MH17 crash.

“This emergency parliamentary sitting is a government initiative to convey the voice of the people on the MH17 crash incident which has killed almost 300 killed.

“Anyway, the time allocated for the day’s sitting is only from 10am to 5.30pm.”

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had decided on calling for an emergency meeting of Parliament to table the motion condemning the inhumane action against MH17, which is believed to have been shot down by a surface-to air-missile in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, on Thursday.

The proceedings tomorrow will be carried live on TV1 from 10am.

Many unaware whistleblowers are protected by law

The New Straits Times

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians are still unaware that they will receive protection under the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010 for disclosing any improper conduct of their companies and agencies.

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) deputy chief commissioner (prevention) Datuk Mustafar Ali said their survey conducted last year involving 10,000 Malaysians revealed that half of them did not realise the existence of the law, which had been enforced since 2010.

“The act was designed to combat corruption and other wrongdoings by encouraging and facilitating disclosures of improper conduct in the public and private sector. It will protect and cover any employee of the public or private sector who disclose wrongdoing.”

Mustafar said the MACC had received 5,000 tip-offs relating to corruption and other wrongdoings annually since the implementation of the act.

“A whistleblower will not be subjected to any civil action or criminal liability and no administrative process can be taken against them.

“However, only 39 people have been protected under this act since 2010,” he said, adding that those protected under the act would not have their identity exposed.

He said the gathering of evidence would be conducted by the commission’s investigation unit to ensure their identity was not compromised.

Mustafar was speaking after officiating the “Whistleblowing – Your Right, Our Commitment” forum at the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Academy here yesterday. The forum aimed to explore the platforms available to combat corruption.

Among the panellists were MACC deputy public prosecutor, Anthony Kevin Morais, Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) chief executive officer, Wan Saiful Wan Jan, and Malaysian Bar president, Christopher Leong.

Some 150 participants from non-governmental organisations, professionals, lawyers and students, attended the half-day forum.

Coup For Najib Over Deal To Secure Remains, Black Boxes

KUALA LUMPUR, July 22 (Bernama) -- It was a coup for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak when he announced early Tuesday, that Malaysia had secured agreement for the release of the victims' bodies and blackboxes on Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH17, as well as for international investigators to have access to the crash site in Grabove, eastern Ukraine.

At a time when all seemed lost, his announcement was a welcome turning point in the stand-off between the international rescue teams and people who were in command over large swathes of land near the Russian border where the Boeing 777 aircraft had tragically crashed.

Najib deftly held his emotions in check when he said that in recent days, he had "wanted to give greater voice to the anger and grief the Malaysian people felt about the incident."

"But sometimes, we must work quietly in the service of a better outcome," he said at a nationally-televised press conference.

And a better outcome it was. As aptly put by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Datuk Seri Idris Jala: "People can talk a lot but it is what you talk about that counts."

In a later statement, Najib said: "These were extraordinary circumstances which called for extraordinary measures. There were risks in pursuing this agreement.

"But we felt an obligation to explore all avenues to break the impasse, and secure the return of the remains and the black boxes. After meeting the families (of the crash victims), I felt that we owed it to them to act," he said.

Meanwhile, Malaysia's 'triumph' has certainly evoked envy among some quarters.

Paul Sonne, a Wall Steet Journal correspondent in Moscow, poured cold water on the breakthrough and wondered in his tweet whether the Malaysian negotiators knew what they had signed with Alexander Borodai and his men.

But Sonne should be reminded that the Malaysian team in Ukraine has people who are conversant in both English and Russian.

With the heavy posturing put on by the separatists by brandishing guns and sometimes shooting in the air to scare off outsiders, one would have thought that the former would prolong the impasse to gain the upper hand in the regional conflict.

But in their behind-the-scenes work, the negotiators focused on what was uppermost on their minds -- securing what was most crucial in these moments of great anguish: the release of the victims' bodies, black boxes and access to the crash site in Grabove.

This brings to mind a saying by St Francis of Assisi: "Start by doing what's necessary; then, do what's possible; and suddenly, you are doing the impossible."

So, it was a matter of priority for the negotiators to have the bodies brought back for one last close moment with their loved ones.

Or getting a proper burial or funeral rights for those who had lost a father, mother, sister, brother, child or friend.

Emotions aside, securing the black boxes to find out what really happened in the air before the aircraft came down and having unimpeded passage for the international investigators to the crash site were other significant tasks.

As Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said: "We still need to get to the truth of what had happened."

All in all, Malaysia acted in good faith and got to the heart of the matter. This reminds one of a saying by author Richard Eyre: "The principle of acting in good faith is at the heart of decent work."

Despite the latest breakthrough, Najib did not gloat over it and provided great compassion and solace in his statement when he said: "I understand that for the families, nothing can undo this damage. The lives taken cannot be given back, the dignity lost cannot be regained.

"My heart reaches out to those whose loved ones were lost on MH17. We hope and pray that the agreement reached helps to bring them a clear step towards closure," he said.