Malaysia's opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim today dismissed as "illogical" the speculation that the missing plane's pilot - his relative and a staunch opposition supporter - may have committed suicide.
Anwar, 66-year-old former deputy prime minister, also said Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah is related to his son's in-laws.
When asked to comment on speculation that Zaharie may have committed "pilot suicide" on account of Anwar's recent conviction on sodomy charges, the opposition leader said it was "illogical" as there were many other Malaysians who were not happy with his conviction.
"I believe 90 per cent of taxi drivers support me and are not happy with the decision. But they did not hijack their taxi," he was quoted by Star as saying.
Anwar said Zaharie, 53, was a staunch opposition supporter and that he had met him on a few occasions at party functions.
"I am not denying that he (Zaharie) is related to one of my in-laws and that I have met him on several occasions. In fact, he is a close friend of (opposition PKR supreme council member and MP) R Sivarasa, as we said before," said Anwar, who was sentenced to five years in jail earlier this month on sodomy charges.
"However, to politicise it is not right. We should respect the family's rights and pray for them instead of prosecuting him before the investigation is completed," he told reporters.
Captain Zaharie and his first officer are under the scanner of the probe into the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
The Beijing-bound Boeing 777-200 plane with 239 people aboard went missing an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur on March 8.
Malaysia's acting transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein yesterday said police are looking into all angles, including the possible pilot suicide, in their investigation into the missing plane.
