Obama Offers Support Over Missing Malaysian MH370 Airlines

Barack Obama has offered support to Malaysia in the baffling mystery over missing flight MH370, an official says. Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, who is leading Malaysia’s efforts to determine the fate of the passenger jet, said he spoke briefly on Saturday with Obama after the US president’s arrival for an official visit. “He said he knows it is a tough, long, road ahead. We’ll work together. There is always support,” Hishammuddin said. “I’m very happy to hear (this) because it is a long journey.” The brief encounter occurred during an official welcoming ceremony at Kuala Lumpur’s Parliament Square, where Obama met his host, Prime Minister Najib Razak. Malaysia is the third stop on an Asian tour by Obama that has taken him to Japan and South Korea. He heads to the Philippines on Monday. The Beijing-bound Malaysia Airlines flight with 239 people aboard disappeared without warning shortly after takeoff from Kuala Lumpur on March 8. Based on satellite data analysis, it is believed to have veered far off course and crashed into a remote area of the southern Indian Ocean. But weeks of searching for wreckage — including two weeks of deep-sea scanning by a US Navy submersible sonar device — have found nothing. About 95 percent of the underwater search area for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has been completed.