Kit Siang tells former BN govt to ‘speak up’ following Abbott’s reveal
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 19 — DAP’s Lim Kit Siang has urged the “highest levels” of the former Barisan Nasional (BN) government today to counter the allegation made by former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott on the disappearance of Flight MH370.
The Iskandar Puteri MP also suggested for an international commission of inquiry into the tragedy, following a claim that Malaysian government had initially viewed the incident as a mass murder-suicide plot.
“The ‘highest levels’ of the former Malaysian government who believed from ‘very early on’ that the MH370 tragedy was a murder-suicide plot must now speak up,” Lim said in a statement.
He also said that the world will be waiting for the two-part documentary in which Abbott was quoted, and added the claims will likely come as a shock to both Malaysians and Australians.
“It would appear an international commission of inquiry into the MH370 disappearance would be necessary as a result of Abbot’s revelations.”
Australia’s News Corp quoted Abbott as telling a documentary that the “highest levels” of Putrajaya allegedly told him within a week of its disappearance in 2014 that Malaysia Airlines pilot Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah was responsible.
He made the remark in the first part of the documentary titled MH370: The Untold Story by broadcaster Sky News Australia airing this week.
Abbott was the prime minister during the MH370 tragedy. Six Australians were among the passengers of the doomed flight.
Abbott’s Malaysian counterpart at that time was Datuk Seri Najib Razak, with Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai as his transport minister. Both were from Barisan Nasional, that was shockingly defeated by Pakatan Harapan in the 2018 general election amid accusations of graft and abuse of power.
Flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing disappeared on March 8, 2014 with all 239 people on board.
Underwater searches for the plane in the Indian Ocean have covered 120,000 square kilometres and cost about A$200 million was subsequently suspended indefinitely in January 2017 until Malaysia accepted a “no-cure, no-fee” offer from US exploration firm Ocean Infinity in 2018.
The three-month search covered 112,000 sq km north of the original target area, without any new discovery when it was called off in May 2018.
An official 495-page report in July 2018 stated that MH370 was deliberately taken off course by a person or persons unknown.
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