A secret deal by Malaysia Prime Minister
Najib Razak to secure the release of the remains of passengers of downed
Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH17 ended successfully yesterday, accomplishing
what days of intense international pressure by global leaders failed to do.
A train
carrying nearly 300 bodies reached the Kiev-controlled city of Kharkiv in the
evening, hours after the plane's two black boxes - one containing the flight
data recorder and the other the cockpit voice recorder - were handed over to
Malaysian officials.
The
breakthrough came five days after the jet was purportedly hit by an
anti-aircraft missile over war-torn eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on
board.
"These
were extraordinary circumstances which called for extraordinary measures. There
were risks involved in pursuing this agreement," said Najib yesterday
without giving further details about the risks or the terms of the deal.
A
report by Reuters yesterday said the separatists made two demands: one, for a
signed document to say the black boxes were not tampered with, and two, that
the recorders not be handed over to the Ukrainian government.
The
agreement surprised many people when it was announced just after midnight on
Monday.
Many
top officers in the prime minister's Office and the Malaysian foreign ministry
were not aware of it as it was a closely-held secret.
Some
had earlier wondered why the 60-year-old premier was guarded for days in his
response to the crisis. He disclosed on Monday night that he held his anger in
check so as to "work quietly in the service of a better outcome".
Najib
was won praise for the breakthrough, even from opposition figures in Malaysia.
"The Prime Minister, Najib Razak, is to be commended for the
breakthrough," said veteran opposition leader Lim Kit Siang.
News
pictures flashed around the world showed rebel commanders handing over the two
black boxes and exchanging documents with Malaysian officials in Donetsk, the
largest city of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic.
In
perhaps an indirect response to critics that he negotiated with
"terrorists" - a term used by the Ukraine government to describe the
separatists - Najib said yesterday: "We felt an obligation to explore all
avenues to break the impasse and secure the return of the remains and the black
boxes.
"After
meeting the families, I felt that we owed it to them to act."
While
Najib has succeeded where more powerful leaders have failed, observers said
there would inevitably be questions about the precedent set by Malaysia's top
leader negotiating directly with a separatist leader like Alexander Borodai,
the self-proclaimed prime minister of the Donetsk People's Republic.
But
experts said the unusual negotiations with the separatists did not mean
Malaysia recognised the rebellion.
Dr Oh
Ei Sun of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore said
Malaysia was merely being pragmatic.
"It's
a measure of peaceful last resort in an abnormal circumstance," he told
The Straits Times yesterday.
Others
pointed out that Malaysia regularly negotiates with Abu Sayyaf terrorists in
southern Philippines to release its citizens or tourists who have been
kidnapped, without acknowledging their political aims.
To
other observers, the deal with Malaysia, which lost 43 of its nationals in the
disaster, was a face-saving measure for Russian President Vladimir Putin and
the pro-Moscow separatists.
The
alternative - to hand over the remains and blackboxes to international
investigators - would have made it seem as if Putin and the rebel commanders
had wilted under threats of sanctions from the United States and European
countries.
Putin
might also have helped in the deal, observers said, as Malaysia is among
countries closest to Russia in Southeast Asia, with purchases of MiG jet
fighters in 1995 and Sukhois in 2003. Part of the purchases was paid with
Malaysian palm oil.
Reme
Ahmad and Yong Yen Nie
Business & Investment Opportunities
Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd (SBC) is incorporated
in Singapore since 1994.
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