MH17: PM Najib Razak arrives in the Netherlands

Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak arrived in the Netherlands Thursday for a two-day tight working visit over the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH17 crash in Ukraine.

Najib is scheduled to meet with his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte during the visit -- the primary aim of which is to help expedite the repatriation of the remains of the Malaysian victims.

Najib flew into Schiphol International Airport at 8am (2pm Malaysian time) accompanied by his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam, Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Hamzah Zainuddin, Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) director-general Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman and MAS chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya were also in Najib's delegation.

Najib is scheduled to travel to The Hague and then to Hilversum as part of his visit where the remains of the victims are undergoing identification and forensic process.

Malaysian Ambassador to the Netherlands Datuk Dr Fauziah Mohamad Taib had said Wednesday that Najib would meet first with Rutte in The Hague and then leave for Hilversum.

In the evening, he is scheduled to host a dinner for Malaysians in the Netherlands.

The MAS flight, MH17, was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it went down in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, near the Russian border on July 17.

The Boeing 777-200 aircraft, which was carrying 298 people - 283 passengers and 15 crew - is believed to have been shot down, but until today no one has claimed responsibility.

The remains of the victims were flown from Ukraine to the Netherlands. Dutch nationals, at 193, comprised the largest number of passengers on Flight MH17.