Malaysian authorities investigating the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 repeatedly rejected offers of assistance from Interpol, even as it was revealed that the jetliner was put on a different flight heading through “deliberate action”, alleged a Western law enforcement agent.
The unnamed official spoke to US ABC News, accusing Malaysia of jealously guarding its information to the point of turning away offered aid from the intergovernmental police agency.
“It’s the old pre-9/11 approach: close-hold information, don’t share anything,” the anonymous official was quoted as saying by ABC News on its website yesterday, referring to the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.
ABC News also quoted other unidentified law enforcement officials expressing concern that the Malaysia’s alleged refusal to accept Interpol’s offers may have caused leads into Flight MH370’s disappearance to go cold.
The allegations raised in the ABC News report appear at odds with Putrajaya’s decision to release highly confidential raw data from its military radars to countries assisting in the search, including the US and China.
“As I am sure you can understand, we would not ordinarily release raw data from our military radars. But in this case we have put the search effort above our national security,” Acting Transport and Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said in a statement on Thursday.
“Malaysia has nothing to hide … From day one, we have been in regular contact with neighbouring countries, and accepted all international offers of help,” he added.
Story: The Malay Mail Online
