I/III. http://rt.com/news/174544-un-probe-malaysia-plane/
‘Kiev will have to answer many questions’ as UN urges intl MH17 crash probe – Moscow Published time: July 22, 2014 02:59 Edited time: July 22, 2014 13:56 Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin (Right) pauses before voting for a United Nations Security Council draft resolution demanding full access for investigators at the Malaysia Airlines jet crash site in eastern Ukraine during a meeting of the Council to discuss the shooting down of jet on July 21, 2014 in New York City (AFP Photo / Spencer Platt) Download video <http://img.rt.com/files/news/2a/9d/00/00/unsc_resolution.mp4?event=download> (25.06 MB) The UN Security Council has condemned the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine and called for an international probe into the incident in a unanimously adopted resolution. All 15-member states voted to pass the Australia-proposed resolution, condemning *“in the strongest terms”* the crash of Malaysian plane on July 17 in Donetsk region of Ukraine, which resulted in 298 people dead. The UN also urged a *"full, thorough and independent international investigation"* into the incident. The resolution also asked local self-defense forces for their cooperation, such as avoiding *“from any actions that may compromise the integrity of the crash site.”* Russia's UN ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, said he was pleased that the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) will have an important role during the investigation and welcomed that fact that the Netherlands will take on the leading role as well. *"We could not simply allow the Security Council to endorse a Ukrainian-led investigation because we have no trust in their intention to conduct a truly objective investigation,"* Churkin told reporters following the resolution. Ukraine will have to answer a lot of questions during the international investigation, Churkin said during his speech at the UN Security Council, adding that Kiev spread fake information allegedly connecting the self-defense forces to the downing of the plane. *“Throughout the investigation Ukraine would have to answer many questions: about the actions of its air traffic controllers, the reasons for the movement of one of the Ukrainian Buk missile systems on July 17 right next to the area controlled by the militias. Why this missile defense system was moved immediately after the airplane crash? Why on July 17 Ukrainian air defense radar worked at the maximum intensity?”* Churkin said. Debris is seen at the site of Thursday's Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane crash near the settlement of Grabovo, in the Donetsk region July 18, 2014 (Reuters / Maxim Zmeyev) Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told the Security Council that the resolution is an *"unambiguous response from the international community to an utterly deplorable act."* She also encouraged Russia to use its influence in the area to make sure self-defense forces comply with the UN’s request for cooperation. The Netherlands agreed with Australia. *“I hope that Russia will now feel its responsibility, act on its responsibility. If it doesn't, it's going to have an increasingly isolated position in the international world,"* said Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans, who traveled to New York for the Security Council meeting. Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the logistics of the international investigation into the downing of the Malaysian plane with the Netherlands' Prime Minister Mark Rutte during a telephone conversation, according to a Kremlin statement published early on Tuesday. Both leaders praised the adopted resolution by the UN Security Council to investigate the crash. II/III. http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/10302049/Russian-rebel-at-the-centre-of-the-MH17-probe Russian rebel at the centre of the MH17 probeTERENCE MCCOY Last updated 18:14 23/07/2014 DISGUST: Aleskander Borodai rolls his eyes as he faces a grilling from a CNN reporter over the MH17 crash. In a diplomatic world of blow-dried coifs and pressed Italian suits, Alexander Borodai more than stands out. His round face is perpetually patched in scruff, and, clad in grunge clothing, he always looks as if he just left a Pearl Jam concert. This week, he presided before a throng of microphones at a news conference in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, wearing a blue denim coat, black undershirt, heaps of scruff and a look of alarm. He had reason to be concerned: A preponderance of evidence suggests that pro-Russian separatists used a Russian-obtained missile launcher to shoot down a Malaysia Airlines plane carrying 298 people last week, killing everyone aboard and eliciting global condemnation. As investigators sift through what happened and who did what, this relatively unknown and very unpolished leader of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic has quickly become one of the most important figures in the international tragedy. As the self-styled prime minister of the republic, he's the one who has controlled the fate of the black boxes that investigators said are vital to piecing together what happened. On Tuesday morning, Borodai brandished the black boxes in a room jammed with journalists inside the republic's headquarters. He placed the boxes on the table, according to a Reuters report. "Here they are, the black boxes," he said, handing them over to Malaysian experts. As for the bodies, Borodai dispatched a refrigerated train carrying body bags to Ukrainian government territory so they could be transported to the Netherlands for identification. The theatrics of the morning were only the latest in what has been a frenetic few days for Borodai, the grizzled face of the separatist movement who just months ago was a Russian political activist and consultant. Earlier this week, as the world focused on Donetsk, he said in a statement, "We have found some technical parts. We assume that they are black boxes. . . . They are under my control." Then he delivered one of the more unusual interviews by any self-styled head of state, saying the crime scene was an object of "black humour." The interview was with CNN. Borodai was in denim. The interviewer was hammering him over some of the evidence linking the plane crash to pro-Russian separatists. Borodai's eyes just rolled into the back of his head. He threw his head back and a pained look came over his face. "It is very simple to disprove" the evidence, he said. "All the information that comes through the Internet in my opinion is practically all lies." "As soon as members of the [Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe] arrived, they notified us that as soon as we start moving the bodies then we will be responsible," he said. "It got to the point where it resembled if not a horror movie, then black humour." Borodai may not be the smoothest operator, but he says he's plenty experienced at handling conflict. "In essence, I am what can be called a professional consultant," the 41-year-old Muscovite told reporters at his first Donetsk news conference in May, Agence France-Presse reported. "I have resolved all kinds of complicated situations. For that reason, personally speaking, my specialisation was what was needed here." He's often accused of having ties to the Russian government - being a Russian and all - but Borodai denies that. "I am a Russian citizen," he told AFP. "But I am a private individual, so you cannot accuse the Russian government of having a hand in what's going on in the Donetsk People's Republic because of my presence here." His presence, The New York Times reported, may have been sudden and unceremonious in Ukraine, but back home in Russia, he is better known and a man of many titles. He calls himself an "ordinary citizen," a "political strategist" and a "professional consultant." To others, he is the "Karl Rove of Russian imperialism," as Irena Chalupa, a fellow at the Atlantic Council, told the Times. With roots in the ultranationalist movement in Russia, he contributed to a far-right newspaper called Zavtra in the 1990s that promulgated pan-Slavic unity. Fringe ideas then, but ones that today had enough power to drive Borodai and other Russians into eastern Ukraine. "Real Ukrainians have the right to live as they like," he told the Times. "They can create their own state which would be named Ukraine, or however they like, because the word Ukraine is a little humiliating." He said Ukrainians "also want to live as we want to live. We think that we have that right." He said that he had been working as a "political strategist" when Russia annexed Crimea and that he later departed for Ukraine. And despite his Russian origins, some observers contend that he's telling the truth when he says he's in it just for Ukraine. "This is not the hand of Moscow; it's just Borodai," Oleg Kashin, a Russian investigative journalist, told the Times. But who is he personally? It's unknown. "As far as possible I want to conceal personal information about myself," he said earlier this year. "Not because it's so top secret - it is absolutely not top secret - but simply because, honestly speaking, I don't want to give it." *-The Washington Post* III. http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-07-22/mh17-black-boxes-on-malaysia-air-will-be-limited-in-ukraine-probe Why MH17's Black Boxes Will Be Weak Witnesses in the Ukraine Probe By Justin Bachman <http://www.businessweek.com/authors/1489-justin-bachman> July 22, 2014 A Donetsk People's Republic official (left) and Colonel Mohamed Sakri of the Malaysian National Security Council signing documents during the handing over to Malaysia of the black boxes recovered from the crash site of the MH17 jet Five days after the downing of Malaysia Airlines (MAS:MK <http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?ticker=MAS:MK> ) Flight 17, the jet’s black boxes are finally headed from Ukraine to the U.K. for analysis. But there are limits to the questions that might be answered from the data recorders. The far more revealing remains of the jet, meanwhile, remain scattered across fields in a war zone, and international officials fear that the wreckage has been tampered with. “After the crime comes the cover-up,” Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott told reporters on Tuesday, amid reports that large sections appear to have been chopped apart. “What we have seen is evidence-tampering <http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbott-slams-evidence-tampering-at-mh17-crash-site-20140722-3cd4c.html> on an industrial scale, and obviously that has to stop.” The flight from Amsterdam carried 298 passengers and crew members, including 28 Australians. Rebels who control the disputed area of eastern Ukraine relinquished the Boeing(BA <http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?ticker=BA> ) 777′s voice- and flight-data recorders to representatives from Malaysia, and the Belgian military will transport the black boxes from Kiev to the U.K. for analysis. Most of the victims’ remains are being flown to the Netherlands. STORY: The Crash of MH17: Where Are the Facts on the Ground? <http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-07-19/the-crash-of-mh17-where-are-the-facts-on-the-ground> Part of the resolution for attaining the victims and the plane’s data involved telephone calls between Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and Alexander Borodai, a rebel leader who calls himself prime minister of the Donetsk People’s Republic. “In recent days, there were times I wanted to give greater voice <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28413467> to the anger and grief that the Malaysian people feel and that I feel,” Najib said, according to the BBC. “But sometimes, we must work quietly in the service of a better outcome.” The data and voice recorders can verify the flight’s precise location, altitude, speed, and direction, confirming that the plane was flying at 33,000 feet—or 1,000 feet above the restricted airspace in the region—along with other routine flight-performance metrics. The black boxes may also help to address the question of whether military fighter jets <http://online.wsj.com/articles/russia-presents-its-account-of-malaysia-airlines-flight-17-crash-1405952441?mod=e2tw> were near the commercial flight to Kuala Lumpur, as Russian officials have asserted and Ukraine has denied. The recorders also could shed light as to whether the crew even knew a missile had been launched. Forensic evidence from the victims, too, could help to illustrate the sequence of events and how quickly the plane broke apart. Victims’ families are keen to know why so many of the victims were unclothed <http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/07/why-were-mh17-victims-missing-their-clothes.html>, how quickly they expired, and the specific cause of death. The most telling evidence is likely to be collected from pieces of the 777 fuselage, which broke apart and lies scattered over a wide area. Puncture marks seen in photos of the wreckage are consistent with damage that would be caused by high-velocity shrapnel from a missile, the *New York Times* reported <http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/07/21/world/europe/wreckage-offers-clues-on-why-flight-17-went-down.html> on Tuesday, citing an IHS Jane’s analyst who examined photographs the newspaper had taken at the scene. The SA-11 Gadfly missile system—the kind that U.S. and European officials believe downed the jet—is designed to detonate before it reaches a target, spreading shrapnel across an area as wide as 300 feet and increasing the chances of a strike. But the crash site—considered a crime scene by most nations as they urge unfettered access to the debris—has clearly been compromised in the days since the shoot-down, with reports of people picking through passenger luggage and sections of the aircraft, including the cockpit, sawed apart, according to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the agency that has been overseeing the site. OSCE spokesman Michael Bociurkiw told reporters on Tuesday that sections of the aircraft had been “hacked into <http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ukraine-plane-crash/mh17-wreckage-has-been-hacked-saws-osce-says-n161846>” with saws and that pieces have been moved. At his news conference in Canberra, Australia’s Abbott complained of “random individuals roaming all over the site, picking over remains, picking over wreckage.” -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. 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