MH17 recovery in Ukraine stalled by rebels

DONETSK , Ukraine, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- Wreckage of Malaysia Flight 17, which crashed in Ukraine in July, is not being moved because no deal was reached with rebel groups, the salvage leader said Tuesday.

A salvage team arrived in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday from the Netherlands to recover remains of the aircraft, which was shot down July 17, killing all 298 people aboard. The Netherlands government has led the crash investigation; the Boeing 777 traveled from Amsterdam, and 196 aboard were from the Netherlands. The team was prepared to begin moving wreckage but had no agreement with pro-Russian rebels in the area, salvage team leader Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg told Dutch news broadcaster NOS Tuesday. The salvagers are relying on Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) officials to deal with the rebels.

A spokesman for the rebel group Donetsk People's Republic said the salvage team was critical of "certain points of protocol on gathering the wreckage," the Russian Interfax news agency reported.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, in Beijing for the APEC summit meeting, spoke with Australian Prime Minster Tony Abbott – 27 of the victims were from Australia – and with Malaysian Prime Minster Najib Razak. Both called for an acceleration of the investigation.

In speaking with Razak, Putin blamed shelling by the Ukrainian army, slowing the salvage effort, as the cause for the delay, Interfax Ukraine reported.

"It is not them (the pro-Russian rebels) but the opposite side that is constantly shelling this plot of land and hindering thorough work at the crash site. But, anyway, we welcome the final full-scale involvement of Malaysian specialists in this inquiry rather than just the activity of the so-called technical commission. I am sure that your specialists will make a contribution to the comprehensive investigation of this tragedy."