Malaysia, Australia to continue co-op in handling duo air tragedies

Malaysian airliner crashes in Ukraine

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PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia - Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and his visiting Australian counterpart Tony Abbot said here on Saturday in a joint press conference that the two countries would continue their cooperation in dealing with the tragedies of MH370 and MH17.

Najib expressed his gratitude for Australia's help in the search of MH370, saying the two countries would continue to work together to locate the missing aircraft.

Abbot said a new search would start in a fortnight's time, and all humanly possible efforts were taken to scour the zone. On the cost of the search for MH370, he said Malaysia and Australia would contribute 60 million Australian dollars (about 56.3 million U.S. dollars) each.

Abbot said it would be the intention of the Australian government to erect a monument on its western coastline in memory of those on board of the MH370, however, which would be guided by the wishes of Malaysia and the families of the victims.

As to the downing of MH17, Najib said the intelligence reports on MH17 were "pretty conclusive," and Malaysia and the international investigation teams were working to assemble the physical evidence.

Najib said once the physical evidence assembling process was finished, the criminal side of the incident would be looked into to find out who was responsible for the crime.

He said Malaysia demanded a full, independent and transparent international investigation into the incident.

Najib also said it was important for Malaysia and Australia to work together in the follow-up process of recovering other remains of the MH17 victims, investigating the air crash and ensuring criminal investigation.

The two leaders also exchanged their views on regional and international issues of mutual interests and concerns, such as the developments of the situation in Syria, Iraq, and particularly with the emergence of the radical Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Najib said Malaysia would work closely with the international community to meet the threat of ISIS, which they consider very serious to the world.