MH17 Leaders of the Netherlands and Malaysia vowed to seek closure to the MH17 episode and put the issue high on the international agenda.
These were among the hopes that emanated from Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte as they met in Malaysia’s administrative capital and deliberated on the MH17 tragedy.
Najib in a joint press conference with Rutte in Perdana Putra today in conjunction with the latter’s one-day official visit, said Malaysia was welcomed to play a significant role in ascertaining what really happened in the MH17 crash incident.
“We (Malaysia) are most welcome to play a bigger role and take part in the recovery and investigation into what really happened to MH17 and we hope in the coming days this will be more evident,” he said.
Najib said he and Rutte agreed that the affected countries must work very closely together, with priority given to recovering the wreckage to enable the final report to be issued in due course.
“We have to ascertain what truly happened to the plane without reasonable doubt. We have knowledge, we have plenty of knowledge but that knowledge has to be backed by solid forensic evidence,” he said.
Najib said Malaysia was committed to bringing the perpetrators of the downing of MH17 to justice.
“This is our key commitment. We must do everything possible to ensure justice is done and seen,” he said.
Najib expressed gratitute to the Netherlands government for its assistance which had enabled all Malaysian victims to be identified and returned to their next of kin.
“This is an important step and we hope it brings the prospect of closure for the families who are deeply affected as the investigation on MH17 continues,” he said.
Silver lining
Najib described Rutte’s visit to Malaysia as a clear manifestation that “in grief there could be a silver lining”.
“And that silver lining of course has brought our two countries closer together and we are committed to continue to move together in the context of MH17,” he said.
- Bernama