Missing plane: China demands Kuala Lumpur turn over satellite data

Posted by admin Africa & World Politics, Headlines Wednesday, March 26th, 2014

Missing plane: China demands Kuala Lumpur turn over satellite data

By Our Reporter on March 26, 2014 · National

China has demanded that Malaysia turn over the satellite data used to conclude that a Malaysia Airlines jetliner had crashed in the southern Indian Ocean, killing everyone on board, as gale-force winds and heavy rain yesterday halted the search for remains of the plane.
The weather is expected to improve so that the multinational search being conducted out of Perth, Australia, could possibly resume today. But the searchers will face a daunting task of combing a vast expanse of choppy seas for suspected remnants of the aircraft sighted earlier.
“We’re not searching for a needle in a haystack we’re still trying to define where the haystack is,” Australia’s deputy defense chief, Air Marshal Mark Binskin, told reporters at a military base in Perth as idled planes stood behind him.
Meanwhile, dozens of angry relatives of passengers on a lost Malaysian jetliner clashed with police in Beijing yesterday, accusing the Southeast Asian country of “delays and deception” a day after it confirmed the plane crashed in remote seas off Australia.
About 20 to 30 protesters, chanting chanting, “Liars!,” threw water bottles at the Malaysian embassy and tried to storm the building, demanding to meet the ambassador. Many wore white T-shirts that read “Let’s pray for MH370” as they held banners and shouted, “Tell the truth! Return our relatives!”
Earlier, the relatives, many with tear-stained faces, had linked arms and chanted “Malaysian government has cheated us” and “Malaysia, return our relatives” as they marched peacefully and held banners.
The relatives’ grief and anger was unleashed on Monday night after Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced that Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which vanished more than two weeks ago while flying to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur, had crashed in the southern Indian Ocean.
There was a heavy police presence at the embassy. Police briefly scuffled with a group of relatives who tried to approach journalists. Deputy Foreign Minister Xie Hangsheng told Malaysia’s ambassador that China wanted to know exactly what led Najib to announce that the plane had been lost, a statement on the ministry’s website said.
Malaysia Airlines Chairman Mohammed Nor Mohammed Yusof told a news conference yesterday that it may take time for further answers to become clear.
“This has been an unprecedented event requiring an unprecedented response,” he said. “The investigation still underway may yet prove to be even longer and more complex than it has been since March 8th.”
He added that even though no wreckage has been found, there was no doubt it had crashed. Australian and Chinese search planes spotted floating objects in an area 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles) southwest of Perth on Monday, but none was retrieved. Now, with the harsh weather and a 24-hour delay in the search, those objects and other possible debris from the plane could drift to an even wider area.

-Sunwp_posts