The Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) is not going to redeply its special investigative team to the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine until the Ukrainian military and pro-Russia separatist rebels in the area commit to a ceasefire, said Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar.
He said at the moment, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is negotiating with both sides of the conflict to put the ceasefire in place.
“We had to withdraw our personnel from Ukraine because of the threat to their safety. Troops are being mobilised in the area and battles can break out at any time,” he told Bernama.
Khalid had just returned from Amsterdam, along with 34 police officers who had participated in the search and investigation operation over the MH17 crash in Kharkiv, Ukraine.
He said the PDRM would need a conflict-free zone of about 20km to 30km around the crash site in order to conduct investigations and to locate the personal effects of the Malaysian victims.
Khalid also said the PDRM would deply a liaison officer each in Amsterdam and Kiev to keep track of developments pertaining to the case.
A PDRM officer from London would be deployed to Kiev, and will attend meetings with Dutch, Russian and OCSE representatives to negotiate a possible ceasefire and a continuation of investigations.
“For the Netherlands, an officer from Malaysia will be deployed within this week to cooperate with the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), which comprises Malaysia, the Netherlands and Australia, involved in identifying the bodies of the victims.
“Right now, the five remaining personnel had left for the Netherlands from Ukraine and will return to Malaysia later this week,” he said.
Flight MH17 was shot down over the eastern Ukrainian province of Donetsk on Thursday July 17. All 298 people on board perished. Among the total number of passengers on board the Boeing 777 jetliner, 193 were Dutch nationals.
See Also:
Video: The Netherlands’ foreign minister makes emotional plea for UN action on MH17
Video: First group of MH17 bodies arrive in the Netherlands, given full honours
Putrajaya to set aside special burial ground for Muslim MH17 victims
PM Najib: “weeks or months” before Malaysian MH17 bodies can come home
Prime Minister’s Hari Raya open house cancelled out of respect for MH17 victims
PM Najib: national day of mourning when MH17 victims’ bodies return home
Malaysian team to finally enter MH17 crash site today
MH17: Malaysian investigators to return to crash site today
Special Government meeting today to plan reception for MH17 victims’ bodies
