SEPANG, March 17 — The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had been brought in to aid investigations into flight MH370 from the very first day the plane vanished, acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said today amid US complaints of a “Malaysian wall”.
The minister said reports claiming that Malaysian authorities have snubbed US offers of help were “not true”, and maintained that Malaysian officials cannot issue statements on a whim without first verifying and corroborating whatever information that they have on hand.
“This is clearly false information, because I’ve been working with the FBI from day one,” he said to a question at the daily press conference at the Sama Sama Hotel.
US law enforcement officials have complained that their Malaysian counterparts have consistently stonewalled attempts to extend manpower and technical expertise to probe the case of the missing Malaysia Airlines plane.
Quoting an unnamed law enforcement official, the New York Times reported that US officials cannot do very much as long as the Malaysian side continues to refuse their offers of help.
“There’s not a whole lot we can do absent of a request from them for more help or a development that relates to information we may have,” the official was quoted as saying by the publication.
At the moment, their investigative efforts were limited to two FBI agents stationed in Malaysia prior to the disappearance of the plane on March 8.
US Republican Congressman Peter King, who heads the powerful House Sub-Committee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, was also reported by US network Fox News to have demanded that US law enforcement agencies be given a bigger role in the disappearance of the Malaysian plane with 239 people on board.
King, who has announced plans to contest the 2016 US presidential race, reportedly accused Malaysia of withholding vital information that MH370 did not crash but instead flew on for hours after it lost contact with ground control on March 8.
The US lawmaker insisted that the country’s National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the FBI, along with Interpol, must have a more “hands on” role in the investigation currently led by Malaysia.
Three US citizens were listed among the 227 passengers on MH370.
King’s remonstrations were a marked rise in rhetoric coming from the US for Malaysia to yield to the country’s agencies on MH370.
Hishammuddin also repudiated today criticism from the world community over Malaysia’s handling of the aviation crisis, claiming government officials have only received positive feedback as the search for the missing Boeing 777-200 enters its 10th day.
The defence minister said reports that claimed otherwise were “erroneous” and described those who spread them as “irresponsible”.
