Missing MH370 captain related to opposition leader: crossover

A crossover between Xinhuanet and Xinhua correspondent Wang Dawei about the searching for the missing Malaysian Flight MH370 in Kuala Lumper revealed that Missing MH370 captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah is related to Malaysian opposition leader.  [Special coverage]

Q：It is the 11th day after MH370 has gone missing, is there any latest update of the event?

A: During the press conference Tuesday at the Chinese embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Chinese ambassador Huang Huikang said that the investigation into the backgrounds of all passengers from Chinese mainland on board was finished, and found no evidence suggesting any of them is linked to sabotage or terror attack. The passengers from Chinese mainland are now be cleared of suspicion in principle.

Huang said China has started searching the territory along the northern corridor and satellites and radar have been utilized for the mission, adding that Chinese navy ships and other ships are on standby and ready to go to the new search areas.

The latest update of the events mainly came from press conference on Monday afternoon. Twenty-six countries have now been involved in the searching. Malaysian Foreign Minister has sent request to all countries along the two corridors to assist the search. Most of them have given positive responses.

Q: With the latest update of the events released by Malaysia, the search focus is now shifting away from South China Sea. International media now accuse the Malaysian Airlines of not revealing information in time, which caused a waste of both time and resources. What does Malaysian government comment on the accusation? What adjustments the government has made?

A: We brought up this question on March 17 when we interviewed Oh Ei Sun, former political secretary to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib.

According to Oh, in the wake of this incident, the Malaysian government lacks the experience and ability to deal with major emergencies, thus leading to the chaos of information on all aspects.

As the event progresses, Malaysia has now clarified the information. On March 15, Prime Minister Najib Razak expressed hopes for assistance from all neighbors. Malaysia hopes China, US and France to send experts to help with the search. We can see from this that the Malaysian government has experienced a major change, becoming more active on seeking cooperation with the international community, in hopes that the missing flight can be found as soon as possible.

Q: What do local media and citizens think of the Malaysian government and Malaysian Airlines due to possible information concealing by the government and the military?

A: During our interview with local citizens on March 17, most of them seemed to be harsh toward their government. They believe that the government bureaucracy did not set up a valid spokesmen system in time. In that situation, any government sector could make a statement with unconfirmed information, which caused the chaos. They believe this has greatly affected the searching.

This is most people's opinions. Some other people believe there are certain sensitive information relating to national security, for example military information such as satellites and radars. Considering this, and in order to ensure the accuracy of information, the government had to confirm the information before releasing it. This will surely affect the rapid and timely release of information. They believe other countries will also do the same. However, between the two voices, the critical has dominated the mainstream.

Q: According to recent reports, the incident may be associated with Malaysian politics as Zaharie Ahmad Shah, captain of the missing jet, was considered a major suspect of the incident. Is there any latest information on the investigation?

A: On March 17, we visited the homes of the pilot and co-pilot. We interviewed their neighbors and safeguards. We confirmed that the Malaysian police did search their homes. The police took away important items, such as the flight simulator, from the captain's home. Father and brother of the co-pilot were also taken away to assist the investigation.

Malaysia's acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said during a press conference Monday that the police did the search on March 9, the day after the incident, and searched again on March 16. The result will be published after being verified by the Malaysian police.

We also interviewed Sivarasa Rasiah, friend of the captain. He said, "As far as I know, Zaharie will never leave passengers and the jet in jeopardy." He added that Zaharie is distantly related to Anwar, Malaysian opposition leader. "It's like the son of grandfather's brother or something like that, very distant."

In Malaysia, many refer to the elderly as "Pakcik", which means uncle. That's the way people misunderstand their relationship. Anwar admitted that Zaharie is related to his son-in-law, Malaysian newspaper the Star reported on Tuesday.

Rasiah added he was not aware of Zaharie's involvement in using party funds. "This needs further investigation," he said.