Malaysia to seek justice for MH17 victims at UN General Assembly

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia today said it will seek justice for the 298 victims of MH17 jetliner, shot down in eastern Ukraine, by raising the issue with world leaders at the UN General Assembly later this month.

Defence Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, who will address the UN general assembly, would raise the matter with leaders like US President Barack Obama, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

"We are on the right platform to demand justice and bring to book those responsible for downing the aircraft. No one can deny us this right. Let's wait for the developments at the United Nations," he said.

Flight MH17 was shot down on July 17 as it was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, killing all the 283 passengers and 15 crew on board.

The Boeing 777-200 aircraft had people from Malaysia, the Netherlands, Australia, Indonesia, the UK, Germany, Belgium, the Philippines, Canada and New Zealand among its 298 passengers on board.

Hishammuddin also said efforts would be made to search the missing Flight MH370 which dropped off radar on March 8 as it flew from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 227 passengers and 12 crew on board.

The Boeing 777 aircraft is still missing after an exhaustive search in the southern Indian Ocean where it is believed to have gone down after veering off course.