Ukraine Parliament ratifies bilateral agreement for deployment of M'sian personnel to MH17 crash site

The Ukraine Parliament ratified a bilateral agreement yesterday, providing for the deployment of Malaysian

personnel at the MH17 crash site.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the Malaysian government welcomed this bilateral agreement, which formally authorised the deployment of Malaysian personnel at the site.

"Now is the time to make it count," he said in a statement, here, today.

In recent days, Najib had held meetings with European governments to discuss the MH17 situation and following discussions between him and Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko, the bilateral agreement was ratified.

The agreement allows up to 90 Malaysian non-military personnel to join the Dutch-led team to facilitate the recovery of the remains of the air crash victims and conduct the investigation called for in the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2166.

Prior to ratification of the agreement, Malaysian police and investigators had conducted operations at the crash site, but due to unsafe conditions, the personnel were unable to remain at the site.

"I implore all parties to cease fighting and allow the international team of investigators safe and unfettered access to the crash site," Najib said.

Yesterday, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar returned from Amsterdam along with 34 police personnel who had participated in the search and investigation mission of the downed Malaysia Airlines (MAS) plane, flight MH17 in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

Khalid said the Royal Malaysian Police would redeploy its special team to the MH17 crash site in eastern Ukraine if the Ukrainian military and the separatists agreed to a ceasefire in the area.

The MAS plane crashed in eastern Ukraine on July 17 as it was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur with 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board.

The Boeing 777-200 aircraft is believed to have been shot down by a missile over the troubled country.