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Rebels hand over black boxes, remains of MH17 victims

KHARKIV (Ukraine) — The remains of the victims of the Malaysia Airlines MH17 crash arrived in territory held by the Ukrainian government yesterday on their way to the Netherlands, after delays and haphazard treatment of the bodies put pressure on European Union Foreign Ministers meeting in Brussels to impose tougher economic sanctions on Russia.

KHARKIV (Ukraine) — The remains of the victims of the Malaysia Airlines MH17 crash arrived in territory held by the Ukrainian government yesterday on their way to the Netherlands, after delays and haphazard treatment of the bodies put pressure on European Union Foreign Ministers meeting in Brussels to impose tougher economic sanctions on Russia.

The crash site itself, in farmland held by the pro-Russian separatists whom the West accuse of shooting down the plane, remained unsecured five days after the disaster — another source of frustration for officials around the world eager to establish the facts of the case.

After an overnight journey, a refrigerated train carrying the bodies pulled into a station in Kharkiv, a government-controlled city where the Ukrainian authorities have set up their crash investigation centre. Government spokesman Oleksander Kharchenko said Ukraine “will do our best” to send the bodies to the Netherlands yesterday. Of the 298 people who died aboard the Amsterdam-to-Kuala Lumpur flight, 193 were Dutch.

In Brussels, EU Foreign Ministers were discussing whether to impose more sanctions in response to the disaster. Europe and the United States have imposed targeted economic sanctions against Russia for supporting Ukraine’s five-month insurgency that began after pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted in February.

The rebels control a swathe of territory in two eastern provinces, and have battled Ukrainian troops with heavy weapons including tanks and missile launchers that the West says came from Russia. Russia denies supporting the insurgency.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced yesterday morning that the Ukrainian separatist force had agreed to release the bodies of the victims as well as the two black boxes recovered from the wreckage.

Yesterday, Mr Najib said Malaysia was in possession of the black boxes. “They will (be) held securely in Malaysian custody while the international investigation team is being formalised. At that time, we will pass the black boxes to the international investigation team for further analysis.”

He also commended the Ukrainian separatists for keeping their pledge to release the black boxes and the bodies.

Yesterday, protesters marched on the Russian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, waving placards and demanding justice for the MH17 victims.

Several hundred people chanted “We want justice” and demanded that the authorities catch whoever was responsible for downing the jetliner. The rally was organised by the youth wing of the United Malays National Organization, Malaysia’s largest political party. A Russian Embassy official said that staff members had been ordered to stay inside the embassy compound.

One of the demonstrators, Chris Wong, said the protesters were not accusing anyone for last week’s disaster. “We want to ask Russia and also Ukraine to cooperate with investigations,” he said.

Earlier yesterday, Russia’s Ambassador to Malaysia, Ms Lyudmila Vorobyeva, reiterated that Russia had nothing to do with the plane crash and pointed the finger at Ukraine. “The rebels do not possess any defence systems that are capable of shooting a plane at the altitude of 10,000m. They do not have this kind of system. Russia never supplies this kind of system,” she told a news conference.

Ms Vorobyeva said Russia was not playing games of laying blame without any evidence. “We are not doing that. We are calling for a thorough investigation that could produce evidence of who is responsible for this tragedy,” she said. AGENCIES

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