AMSTERDAM, 12 Aug: Australia’s Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, has said the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in eastern Ukraine was mass murder.
On a visit to the Netherlands to discuss the disaster with Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte, Abbott laid a wreath at the military barracks where victims’ remains are being identified.
“Let’s be absolutely crystal clear about what happened.
“Two-hundred-ninety-eight innocent people were murdered,” he said, quoted from the AP news.
Flight 17 was shot down July 17, killing all 298 people aboard, mostly Dutch, Malaysian and Australian citizens.
Pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine have publicly denied responsibility but one top rebel has told The Associated Press they were involved.
A Dutch-led criminal investigation into the plane’s destruction is still in an evidence-gathering phase.
NS
