MH370 Malaysia’s radar should have been the capability to detect the missing flight MH370, said former finance minister Anwar Ibrahim.

He said during his term, Malaysia had purchased a radar system from Marconi to cover Malaysia’s northern approaches.

“They had the capability to detect any flight from the west - or from the east to the west coast, from the South China Sea to the Indian Ocean.

“I find it shocking that they are not able (to give answers), or they give some very scanty sort of information.

“The problem is credibility of the leadership. They are culpable because there is a general perception that they are not opening up, that there is an opaque system at work,” he told an interview with CNN published this morning (Malaysian time).

The MAS Boeing 777-200ER aircraft had mysteriously gone missing in the wee hours of March 8, prompting the largest search and rescue operation in aviation history.

In the interview, the PKR de facto leader also defended the flight’s captain, Zaharie Ahmad Shah, whom he said had met on several occasions.

“He supports our multi-racial coalition. He supports democratic reform. He is against any form of extremism,” he said.

There had been speculation that Zaharie was behind the aircraft’s diversion and this is somehow tied to the Court of Appeal decision to find Anwar guilty of Sodomy II on March 7.

Several of Zaharie’s friends have expressed doubt and disbelief at the accusation.