KUALA LUMPUR, March 16 ― PKR confirmed today that the captain of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 is a party member, but rubbished a British tabloid’s report linking his affiliation to the plane’s disappearance.

PKR leader Sivarasa Rasiah said pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah held a life membership and was actively involved in the party.

“He was a PKR member since January 23 last year and campaigned for us during the general election but this is irrelevant to the case,” Sivarasa was quoted saying by The Star on its website today.

Sivarasa also sought to debunk the Daily Mail’s report that Zaharie had planned to attend the Court of Appeal’s two-day hearing over the Sodomy II charge against PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

“Even though I was not entirely there (at the trial), I can say that he was not there. If he were, I would have been notified,” the Subang MP said, pointing out the tabloid’s report was not back by facts.

PKR communications director Fahmi Fadzil similarly dismissed the report as “wild allegations” and “wild speculation for the moment”, calling the UK paper a “sensationalist tabloid know for cooking up stories”.

Fahmi said he did not know Zaharie until the news of the missing plane last Saturday, adding that he did not remember seeing the pilot during the two-day court proceedings.

“If there is concrete data backing up an allegation we will respond to it. If anyone aboard (the flight) chose to attend the Anwar trial that is their right as it was in open court,” he was quoted saying by The Star.

PKR vice-president N. Surendran called the Mail’s claims “pure speculation”, saying that there was a need to “be fair” to the missing captain who could not “answer for himself”.

But he did not think that PKR should sue the paper for defamation, noting that this allegation was the “latest in a long string of theories” over the past one week, The Star reported.

Citing an unnamed source, the newspaper reported today that authorities are studying Zaharie’s political leanings after it was purportedly revealed that he was a social activist who was “strident” in his support for Anwar.

According to unidentified investigators cited in the report, Zaharie’s colleague said he told them of plans to attend the opposition leader’s trial last Friday, March 7.

It is not known if he was in Putrajaya for Anwar’s hearing that day, where the politician was found guilty of sodomy and sentenced to five years’ jail by the Court of Appeal. Anwar is out on bail and is appealing the case at the Federal Court.

Yesterday, the police searched the homes of Zaharie and co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid in Shah Alam shortly after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak told a news conference that MH370 was diverted deliberately, after someone on board switched off the Boeing 777’s communications systems.

Najib said yesterday investigation on the disappearance of MH370 will now refocus of the passengers and crew onboard, but stopped short of confirming in the press conference that the plane was hijacked.

The Beijing-bound MH370 with 239 onboard went missing on March 8 through what investigators now believe to be “deliberate action”.