Flight MH370 – Malaysia : Men with stolen passports on jet ‘not terrorists’

Authorities say one of the passengers using a stolen passport on the missing Malaysian Airlines jetliner was Iranian — a 19-year-old who they believe was intending to migrate to Germany and is not suspected of having links to terrorism groups.

Police in Malaysia named the teen as Pouria Nour Mohammad Mehrdad.

Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said investigators had determined one was a 19-year-old Iranian, Pouria Nourmohammadi Mehrdad, and that it seemed likely he was planning to migrate to Germany.

“We believe he is not likely to be a member of any terrorist group,” Khalid said.

Interpol identified the second man as Seyed Mohammed Reza Delavar, a 29-year-old Iranian, and released an image of the two boarding a plane at the same time. Interpol Secretary General Ronald K. Noble said the two men traveled to Malaysia on their Iranian passports, then apparently switched to their stolen Austrian and Italian documents.

He said speculation of terrorism appeared to be dying down “as the belief becomes more certain that these two individuals were probably not terrorists.” He appealed to the public for more information about the two.

The plane took off from Kuala Lumpur, on the western coast of Malaysia, early Saturday en route to Beijing.

It flew across Malaysia into the Gulf of Thailand at 35,000 feet (11,000 meters) and then disappeared from radar screens.

The hunt began on Saturday near the plane’s last known location. But with no debris found there, the search has been systematically expanded to include areas the plane could have reached with the fuel it had on board. That is a vast area in which to locate something as small as a piece of an aircraft.

China, where two-thirds of the passengers are from, urged Malaysian authorities on Tuesday to “speed up the efforts” to find the plane. It has sent four ships, with another four on the way.

A shopping mall in Beijing suspended advertising on its large outdoor LED screen to display a search timer — an image of an airplane along with a digital clock marking the time since contact with the flight was lost.

Assuming the plane crashed into the ocean or disintegrated in midair, there will likely still be debris floating in the ocean, but it may be widely spread out and much may have already sunk. In past disasters, it has taken days or longer to find wreckage.

The United States has sent two navy ships, at least one of which is equipped with helicopters, and a Navy P-3C Orion plane with sensors that can detect small debris in the water.

Vietnamese planes and ships are also taking part. Lt. Gen. Vo Van Tuan, deputy chief of staff of the Vietnamese People’s Army, said authorities on land had also been ordered to search for the plane, which could have crashed into mountains or uninhabited jungle. He said military units near the border with Laos and Cambodia had been instructed to search their regions also.

“So far we have found no signs … so we must widen our search,” he said.

AP/Canadajournal