MH17: Police seek to be part of joint investigation team

KUALA LUMPUR: Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim (pix), said that they will seek for Malaysia to be part of the joint investigations team to probe the cause of MH17 tragedy.
He said police will head to Holland on Dec 3 to discuss with Dutch and Australian top officials of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) and on Malaysia's participation in the criminal probe of the flight MH17 air crash.
"We are disappointed with Malaysia's exclusion from the JIT," he told reporters in a press conference at the opening of an international conference "Criminal Justice System in the 21st Century: Spirit, Form and Challenges" organised by International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilisation, University Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia here today.
"It is only appropriate we be allowed to be part of the investigations team and not be left out as it is our aircraft," said Khalid.
Currently, Malaysia is a member country of the MH17 technical investigation team which is tasked with the retrieval of the passengers and crews' belongings from the wreckage.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte who visited Malaysia two weeks ago had said that it was only logical Malaysia be allowed to be actively involved in the investigations as the ill-fated Boeing 777 was part of the country's national air carrier.
Flight MH17 left Amsterdam and was bound for Kuala Lumpur with 298 passengers and crew on July 17 but crashed at an open field of a village in Ukraine.
All passengers and crew – 43 who were Malaysians – perished.
An initial report by Dutch and Australian investigators showed that the airliner that was cruising at over 30,000 feet was hit by sharpnels from a ground-to-air missile. The projectile was suspected to be fired by pro-Russian rebels who apparently mistook the airliner for a military aircraft.
On a another matter, Khalid said, police have taken necessary measures to ensure Sabah was safe from any form of threat.
"I will not say Sabah is unsafe. We are doing all it takes to keep it safe and we are prepared to face any threat especially at the east coast of the state. As you can see there are still tourists who head to Sabah for holidays."
He was commenting on a statement made by Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz that he will not promote Sabah especially towns in the east coast to tourists as their safety cannot be guaranteed.