Oooops!!!!! Now the denial —
Malaysia says no mid-flight phone call from MH370 cockpit
http://news.asiaone.com/news/malaysia/malaysia-says-no-mid-flight-phone-call-mh370-cockpit
Note: “from MH370 cockpit” — just the cockpit???
Hows about from the galley or the bathroom???
No freedom of leak to be tolerated in Malaysia:
KUALA LUMPUR, April 13 — Authorities must penalise the New Straits Times (NST) over its report that a Flight MH370 pilot had “desperately” tried to call for help now that this was disputed by Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, the DAP said today.
Accusing the Umno-linked daily of a “bare-faced lie” in claiming co-pilot Fariq Ab Hamid had made a “desperate attempt to call for help” on the day the Malaysia Airlines flight disappeared, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said this was later picked up by international media to the country’s detriment.
“Such lies and baseless information may not only affect search operations but also the families of the passengers and the crew of the aircraft.
“The federal government must be both unforgiving and punishing towards NST, more so when it is owned by Umno and a mouthpiece for the [Barisan Nasional] leaders,” Lim said in a statement today.
The Penang chief minister warned that failure to reprimand the newspaper over the report would further dent the country’s image, which was already battered on the global stage due to the repeated contradictions surrounding the investigation and search for MH370.
He also demanded the NST publish a front page apology for engaging in “gutter journalism” in the report.
In a “world exclusive” yesterday, the newspaper published on its front page an article titled “Desperate call for help” based on anonymous sources that claimed Fariq’s mobile phone had made connections to a cellular communications tower.
It is unclear how the newspaper determined a phone call was actually placed or that it was “desperate” in nature, as another source also told the newspaper that the “attachment” to the cellular tower was not indicative of a phone call.
The report also did not specify who, if anyone, Fariq is supposed to have called.
Subsequent to the report, Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin rejected the claim, saying that investigators would have learnt of the matter if it had indeed occurred.
“I cannot comment (on the newspaper report) because if it is true, we would have known about it much earlier,” Hishammuddin, who is also defence minister, was quoted as saying by state news agency Bernama yesterday.
He also said it was irresponsible for any quarters to take the opportunity to make a baseless report.
Hishammuddin previously said the government was compiling “false” media reports on the MH370 crisis with an eye on legal action against the responsible news outlets.