All security protocols in KLIA adhered to - Azharuddin

Investigations involving the two stolen passports used to board MH370 now centers on the possibility of the involvement of a false passport syndicate, said the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) director-general Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman.

Azharuddin said that investigators have scrutinised CCTV footages that showed the two passengers who used the stolen passports both during check-in and boarding.

“I can confirm that all security protocols have been complied with,” he said during a press briefing at 8.10pm, Monday.

Azharuddin also confirmed, after going through the recordings as well as photos, that the two passengers were “not Asian looking males”.

On Sunday, Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was quoted by Bernama as saying the two men had Asian features.

" I am still puzzled how come (Immigration officers) cannot think: an Italian and Austrian but with Asian facial features,” he told Malaysia’s national news agency.

Asked about the statement by Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar earlier today that police have identified one of the two, Azharuddin said that he was unable to confirm that as the area of investigation under him was mainly focused on security protocols.

Khalid had said that the suspect was a non-Malaysian man but did not reveal his nationality. He also confirmed that the man was not from Xinjiang, China.

“We do not have verification of a Chinese militant group claiming responsibility for the missing plane," he was quoted as saying.

At the press briefing, Azharuddin reminded that a person’s features cannot be used to conclude that person’s nationality, referring to Italian footballer, Mario Balotelli.

“Do you know Balotelli. Do you know how he looks like? They are not Asian looking, I don’t want to dwell on it,” he said, drawing laughter from the media present.

Azharuddin also explained that the investigation was not just confined to the two passengers, whose identities still remain a mystery, but also include “all angles, all possibilities”.

“We cannot reveal (all our angles), but we look at the security part of it, they (the two passengers) have gone through the whole protocol. They were screened, their cabin baggages were screened. That complied with aviation security protocols,” he added.

Two European names—Chritian Kozel from Austria and Luigi Maraldi from Italy — were listed among the passengers of MH370 in the Kuala Lumpur to Beijing flight that vanished from radar on Saturday 1.30am.

However, the real Kozel and Maraldi did not board the plane and had previously reported their passports being stolen in Thailand in the past two years.

Interpol had confirmed that the two stolen passports found to be used by the two MH370 passengers were in its Stolen or Lost Travel Document Database.

MH370 went missing after it lost all communications with air traffic control about an hour after taking off at 12.41am from Kuala Lumpur. It was supposed to arrive at 6.30am.

The plane, carrying 239 passengers and crew, is yet to be located.