KUALA LUMPUR, June 12 — A group claiming to represent the families of those aboard Flight MH370 today claimed that deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Hamzah Zainuddin has agreed to meet with them, just hours after he raised questions over their authenticity.

In a statement, Voice 370 said Hamzah had replied their earlier letter and that he will schedule a date for a meeting as soon as possible as he had been tied up with overseas assignments.

“We have replied the letter accordingly and expect a reply on a confirmed date of meeting by June 16,” the statement read.

Earlier today, Hamzah called on the people behind Voice 370 to identify themselves and show proof that they are representing the families before he can entertain their request for a meeting.

He claimed that the person who emailed him the letter requesting for a meeting refused his request to know who they are and the families they are representing, allegedly saying that the information was “confidential”.

“You want us to be transparent, so you need to be transparent with me,” said the deputy minister, who chairs the next-of-kin committee that handles all matters related to the families of the 239 passengers and crew on board the Malaysia Airlines plane missing for 96 days now.

Voice 370, in their statement today, also thanked Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein for agreeing to a separate meeting with them.

“We look forward to the establishment of a working template in dealing with issues raised by the next-of-kin real soon... we also hope to experience the direct engagement efforts from the next-of-kin committee soonest,” the group said.

Last Friday, Voice370 wrote to Hamzah to request the meeting, as well as assistance for the families during this “difficult” period.

A group of families have also launched a crowdsourcing campaign to raise US$5 million (RM16.05 million) to pay whistleblowers and private investigators to conduct their own search for the missing Malaysia Airlines-owned Boeing 777.

Communications and Multimedia deputy Minister Datuk Jailani Johari said in an earlier statement that both Najib and Hishammuddin will meet with them “in due time”.

MH370 disappeared after leaving Kuala Lumpur for Beijing on March 8 with 227 passengers and 12 crewmembers on board.

After two months of intensive search, the hunt was scaled back to an undersea operation in the southern Indian Ocean west of Australia that is expected to take between eight to 12 months.