Malaysia identifies missing airline passengers with stolen passports, downplays terrorism

last updated 8 January 2015

On Tuesday, Malaysian police released photos of the two passengers on the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 known to be traveling with stolen passports. They only identified one of the passengers as a 19-year-old Iranian (below, left) who was traveling to Germany to meet his mother. "We believe he is not likely to be a member of any terrorist group, and we believe he was trying to migrate to Germany," Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar told reporters. The Iranian teenager entered Malaysia with the other stolen-passport holder (below, right), with plane tickets they had bought together in Thailand.

The massive search for the vanished Boeing 777 and its 239 passengers and crew members has still turned up nothing, Abu Bakar said. "Maybe somebody on the flight has bought a huge sum of insurance, who wants family to gain from it or somebody who has owed somebody so much money, you know, we are looking at all possibilities," he added. --Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.

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