2014-07-20 14:44:00

Holland urges Putin to pressure pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine


(Vatican Radio) Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte says he has urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to use his influence over Pro-Russian separatists who prevented international monitors from reaching the site in eastern Ukraine where a Malaysia Airlines plane was allegedly shot down Thursday. 

Listen to Stefan Bos's report...  

Rutte said he had "a very intense phone call" with Putin, amid reports that bodies have been moved and personal properties stolen from many of the 298 people who died, including at least 193 Dutch nationals. 

With heavily armed pro-Russian separatists looking over their shoulders, observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, or OSCE, tried to look at wreckage of the downed Malaysian airliner Friday near the rebel-held village of Grabovo.  

It was in this area where horrified residents said "bodies" rained down from the sky with some apparently falling on rooftops near the rebel. Human remains of the old and young, even infants, were seen around the 
crash site. 

OSCE spokesman Michael Bociurkiw said it was difficult to investigate the disaster, which has added to the biggest East-West confrontation since the Cold War.    

"We were promised access and we received it [but] we have to work very quickly to see what is going 
in terms of securing the perimeter. And the state of the bodies, of the soles who died, the wreckage 
and also the black boxes," he said.     

INTERNATIONAL MONITORS BANNED

Yet, soon it became clear international monitors were not welcome here.  

"I warn you just one time. You are safe here, but if you don't follow my orders this will 
have consequences," a rebel commander said, making clear they are only allowed limited access to the site.

Soon after he became angry as some observers walked in the field. "What did I tell you. I am not just an 
office boy of your Kyiv government or President Petro Poroshenko," he added, ordering everyone to leave. 

Kyiv claims Moscow-backed pro-Russian separatists shot down the plane, killing all 298 people on board, most of them Dutch nationals. Ukraine's government says separatists are trying to destroy what it calls evidence of international crimes and even removed at least 38 bodies from the scene. 

Malaysia, which now deals with its second major plane crash this year, fears these developments will jeopardize a crucial investigation, explained transport minister Liow Tiong Lai.    

MALAYSIA WORRIED TOO 

"Malaysia is deeply concerned that the crash site has not been properly secured. The integrity of the site has been 
compromised and there are indications that vital evidence has not been preserved in place. Any action that prevent us from learning the truth about what happened with [flight] MH 17 cannot be tolerated," the minister stressed.   

Additionally Ukraine's government has accused pro-Russian rebels of stealing credit cards from the dead bodies.

“Terrorists ransacked belongings of the victims, they took all the money, all the jewels," said Anton Geraschenko, 
an advisor to the Ukrainian Interior Minister. "They took passengers’ credit cards, and now via their intercepted talks we can hear they’re considering the possibility of transferring the cards to the Russian Federation to withdraw money. We ask all victims’ relatives to block the cards so that their money can’t be used to strengthen terrorism”.

Moscow maintains Kiev is carrying out “information warfare” against Russia.

Yet, reports of missing bodies and the stealing of personal belonging added to the pain of relatives mourning the many victims. Those who died came from at least 11 countries and all walks of life. They included an acclaimed AIDS researcher from Amsterdam, a nun and teacher from Sydney, a Dutch senator, a World Health Organization spokesman, as well as many children and families.  








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