“That is a part of the disinformation by Malasia that has plagued this investigation.
Sad but we almost have to rely on our own press now. -Tom”
No it wasn’t. It was a simple misunderstanding by reporters of a valid point the Malaysian official was trying to make.
When the word got out that two passengers had boarded using stolen European passports a reporter asked how could two presumably Asian passengers (as it turned out they were Iranian so could easily pass) board using European passports. The official replied that name does not automatically indicate race and gave as an example the famous Italian footballer Mario Balotelli who is ethnically a black African.
That was all, no misinformation it was a mistake made by international news organisations including US news agencies. Trust me, anyone who solely relies on the US media for international news coverage is in for a severe disappointment.
Civil aviation chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman declined to confirm this, but said they were of "non-Asian" appearance, adding that authorities were looking at the possibility the men were connected to a stolen passport syndicate. Advertisement
Asked by a reporter what they looked like "roughly," he said: "Do you know of a footballer by the name of [Mario] Balotelli? He is an Italian. Do you know how he looks like?"
A reporter then asked, "Is he black?" and the aviation chief replied, "Yes."
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/missing-malaysia-airlines-jet-passenger-with-stolen-passport-nonasian-who-looks-like-mario-balotelli-20140311-hvh6t.html#ixzz2w2VEj71r