A man travelling on a stolen passport on the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 was a young Iranian who has no links to terrorists.
A man travelling on a stolen passport on the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 was a young Iranian who has no links to terrorists. Reuters

The apparent political motive of the pilot of the missing Malaysian Airline Flight 370 in diverting the Boeing 777 jet is becoming clearer. Malaysian Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim admitted on Tuesday that he is related to Zaharie Ahmad Shah, the captain of the missing jet, through Mr Anwar's son-in-law.

The former deputy prime minister previously denied links with Mr Zaharie, although reports said that the pilot attended the trial of Mr Anwar who was sentenced by a Malaysian court to 5 years prison term for sodomy. The pilot was also seen wearing a black T-shirt with the words "Democracy is Dead" right after the trial.

After a few hours, he left for the airport for the trip. His wife and three children, meanwhile, left their home a day before.

Mr Anwar said politicising Mr Zaharie's connection to him is wrong. "We should respect the family's rights and pray for them instead of prosecuting him before the investigation is completed," Mr Anwar said, quoted by The Star.

He added that he had met Mr Zaharie a few times at party functions.

Their link has led to speculations that Mr Zaharie hijacked the plane to protest Mr Anwar's sodomy conviction, but the Opposition leader rejected the theory.

He said, "I believe 90% of taxi drivers support me and are not happy with the decision. But they did not hijack their taxi to Kajang."

Mr Anwar said he has no personal contact with Mr Zaharie, except that the pilot is his follower on Twitter.

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