Missing MH370: Probe likely to be long, tricky

Security experts expect investigations into the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 to go on for a very long time.

They also expect that Malaysia may not be able to reveal all information in its possession too quickly for fear of tipping off parties who may be responsible.

Investigators are looking for leads as to what happened on board the flight after it took off from Kuala Lumpur at 12.41am on March 8 to the time when all contact was lost at 2.15am, said an intelligence analyst.

That is why the focus of the search is intense in areas in the Indian Ocean. The location of debris is critical as work will then start on recovering the plane's "black box" flight recorders.

These flight recorders, located in the aircraft's rear section, send out ultrasonic signals every second for 30 days, after which the batteries will run out.

Security expert Rohan Gunaratna said investigators in Malaysia are looking for evidence that will show whether it was a terrorist attack.

They are also determining if the suspect was mentally disturbed and whether the flight's disappearance was an act of criminal sabotage.

Terrorism expert Kumar Ramakrishna said that the Malaysians are trying to release more information but are not able to.

"Investigators, working on leads on the suspects, probably do not want to reveal too much as the bad guys would also be watching the press conferences,'' he said.

Agreeing, an analyst said: "During an investigation, officers worry about operational security and will not want the suspects to cover their tracks or flee."

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