MH17: Malaysia quietly worked back channels to secure bodies, black boxes

KUALA LUMPUR: As Western leaders increasingly pointed the finger of blame at pro-Russian separatists, and Moscow itself, over the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine, the government in Kuala Lumpur said little.

The reasons for that reticence - which had drawn criticism at home - became clear on Tuesday, when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced shortly after midnight that the Government had negotiated the release of the remains of nearly 300 victims of flight MH17 from separatist-held territory.