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| Ukraine Fighting Stalls Deployment of Dutch Police to Plane Crash Site | Ukraine Fighting Stalls Deployment of Dutch Police to Plane Crash Site |
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| KHARKIV, Ukraine — Restarting a stalled effort to recover the last bodies from the crash site of a Malaysian airliner shot down by a surface-to-air missile, around 30 unarmed Dutch police left this eastern Ukrainian city early Sunday for the debris-strewn site after the Malaysian government struck a deal with pro-Russia rebels over access to the area. | KHARKIV, Ukraine — Restarting a stalled effort to recover the last bodies from the crash site of a Malaysian airliner shot down by a surface-to-air missile, around 30 unarmed Dutch police left this eastern Ukrainian city early Sunday for the debris-strewn site after the Malaysian government struck a deal with pro-Russia rebels over access to the area. |
| After traveling by road to Donetsk, a rebel stronghold 190 miles south of Kharkiv, however, the Dutch team put off trying to reach the crash site because of fighting in the area, a spokeswoman for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said. | After traveling by road to Donetsk, a rebel stronghold 190 miles south of Kharkiv, however, the Dutch team put off trying to reach the crash site because of fighting in the area, a spokeswoman for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said. |
| Small groups of foreign police and forensic experts have managed to reach the area where the Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 crashed on July 17, but efforts to secure the site with larger contingents have repeatedly fallen through. | Small groups of foreign police and forensic experts have managed to reach the area where the Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 crashed on July 17, but efforts to secure the site with larger contingents have repeatedly fallen through. |
| The prospects for a more robust foreign presence got a boost on Sunday when Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak reached an agreement with a leader of the rebels, Alexander Borodai, “to allow a deployment of international police personnel to enter the crash site,” Mr. Najib’s office said in an email. | The prospects for a more robust foreign presence got a boost on Sunday when Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak reached an agreement with a leader of the rebels, Alexander Borodai, “to allow a deployment of international police personnel to enter the crash site,” Mr. Najib’s office said in an email. |
| But heavy fighting threatened to torpedo hopes of a breakthrough and cause yet more delays before the last bodies can be retrieved and evidence collected. | But heavy fighting threatened to torpedo hopes of a breakthrough and cause yet more delays before the last bodies can be retrieved and evidence collected. |
| Australia said on Sunday that it was also sending unarmed police officers to the crash site as part of an international push to prevent any further meddling with human remains and evidence scattered over rebel-controlled farmland. | Australia said on Sunday that it was also sending unarmed police officers to the crash site as part of an international push to prevent any further meddling with human remains and evidence scattered over rebel-controlled farmland. |
| Debris from the crash is scattered over a rural area dotted with wheat and sunflower fields, and the site remains unguarded despite growing reports of tampering with the plane wreckage and passenger items there. Monitors from the O.S.C.E. reported after a visit to the site on Friday that parts of the downed jet’s wreckage had been moved and that pieces of hand luggage had been unzipped and left empty. | Debris from the crash is scattered over a rural area dotted with wheat and sunflower fields, and the site remains unguarded despite growing reports of tampering with the plane wreckage and passenger items there. Monitors from the O.S.C.E. reported after a visit to the site on Friday that parts of the downed jet’s wreckage had been moved and that pieces of hand luggage had been unzipped and left empty. |
| “Our objective is to get in, to get cracking and to get out – that’s our objective,” Prime Minister Tony Abbott of Australia told a news conference in Canberra, the capital. Australia had considered allowing some of its men to carry weapons but Mr. Abbott indicated he had decided against that. | |
| “This is a risky mission, no doubt about that, but all the professional advice I have is that the safest way to conduct it is unarmed as part of a police-led humanitarian mission,” he said. | “This is a risky mission, no doubt about that, but all the professional advice I have is that the safest way to conduct it is unarmed as part of a police-led humanitarian mission,” he said. |
| The jet crashed in territory in eastern Ukraine held by pro-Russia rebels, and while most of the bodies of the 298 victims have now been recovered and flown to the Netherlands for identification, forensic investigators have not been able to reach the area in sufficient numbers to ensure that all the bodies have been found. They also want to collect debris that could provide evidence of who brought the plane down. The Netherlands, whose citizens accounted for around two-thirds of the crash victims, is leading an international effort to get to the bottom of what happened to Flight 17. | The jet crashed in territory in eastern Ukraine held by pro-Russia rebels, and while most of the bodies of the 298 victims have now been recovered and flown to the Netherlands for identification, forensic investigators have not been able to reach the area in sufficient numbers to ensure that all the bodies have been found. They also want to collect debris that could provide evidence of who brought the plane down. The Netherlands, whose citizens accounted for around two-thirds of the crash victims, is leading an international effort to get to the bottom of what happened to Flight 17. |
| Ukrainian and American officials say the Boeing 777 was shot down by a Russian-made surface-to-air missile fired by the rebels. Russia and the rebels have denied any involvement and blame Ukraine. The longer the site remains unguarded, the smaller the chances of recovering evidence that could clarify who shot down the plane. | Ukrainian and American officials say the Boeing 777 was shot down by a Russian-made surface-to-air missile fired by the rebels. Russia and the rebels have denied any involvement and blame Ukraine. The longer the site remains unguarded, the smaller the chances of recovering evidence that could clarify who shot down the plane. |
| Mr. Abbott said 49 foreign police and experts, including 11 Australians, would reach the site Sunday and that “considerably more” would follow in coming days. Clashes in the area between rebels and Ukrainian forces, however, risked scuppering this plan. | |
| Heavy fighting broke out around midday on Sunday near the crash site and the nearby town of Torez, where an air raid siren sounded continually and artillery explosions were heard to the north. Residents scrambled to move into basements. Reporters in Torez said rebels seemed in a state of alarm, as they drove cars in the streets at high speeds. | Heavy fighting broke out around midday on Sunday near the crash site and the nearby town of Torez, where an air raid siren sounded continually and artillery explosions were heard to the north. Residents scrambled to move into basements. Reporters in Torez said rebels seemed in a state of alarm, as they drove cars in the streets at high speeds. |
| Earlier on Sunday, local separatist commanders told reporters at the site that they could no longer guarantee the safety of the about 14 square miles of debris fields, as the Ukrainian military was advancing toward the area. The road between Donetsk and Torez was closed by the separatists. | Earlier on Sunday, local separatist commanders told reporters at the site that they could no longer guarantee the safety of the about 14 square miles of debris fields, as the Ukrainian military was advancing toward the area. The road between Donetsk and Torez was closed by the separatists. |
| The area where Flight 17 came down is now tactically important for the Ukrainian military, which is attempting to close access to the provincial capital of Donetsk from the east, lest separatists in the city be resupplied and reinforced from the direction of the Russian border. | The area where Flight 17 came down is now tactically important for the Ukrainian military, which is attempting to close access to the provincial capital of Donetsk from the east, lest separatists in the city be resupplied and reinforced from the direction of the Russian border. |
| Foreign access to the site has been hampered by a host of problems from the start, with heavily armed rebels initially restricting the movements of foreign experts. Ukraine then asserted that its Parliament needed to endorse operations by the police from the Netherlands and elsewhere. | Foreign access to the site has been hampered by a host of problems from the start, with heavily armed rebels initially restricting the movements of foreign experts. Ukraine then asserted that its Parliament needed to endorse operations by the police from the Netherlands and elsewhere. |
| The Dutch police deployment on Sunday, ordered overnight by the Ministry of Security and Justice in The Hague, reversed an earlier decision by the head of a Dutch police mission in Kharkiv to delay movement toward the crash site until a vote on Thursday by the Ukrainian Parliament in Kiev, the capital. | The Dutch police deployment on Sunday, ordered overnight by the Ministry of Security and Justice in The Hague, reversed an earlier decision by the head of a Dutch police mission in Kharkiv to delay movement toward the crash site until a vote on Thursday by the Ukrainian Parliament in Kiev, the capital. |
| The Ukrainian government, which does not control the crash area but considers it an inviolable part of its territory, has been loath to see foreign governments negotiate with pro-Russia separatist leaders based in Donetsk, the capital of a self-declared republic that no foreign state, including Russia, has recognized. | The Ukrainian government, which does not control the crash area but considers it an inviolable part of its territory, has been loath to see foreign governments negotiate with pro-Russia separatist leaders based in Donetsk, the capital of a self-declared republic that no foreign state, including Russia, has recognized. |
| Malaysia has been particularly active in reaching out to the rebel leadership. It brokered a deal last week under which the rebels handed over the downed plane’s data and voice recorders they had seized at the crash site. On Sunday, the Malaysian government said that pro-Russia rebels had agreed to allow the Australian, Dutch and Malaysian police to guard investigators once they gain access to the swath of farmland and villages in eastern Ukraine where the plane plunged after it was shot down. | |
| “Three grieving nations have formed a coalition to secure the site,” Mr. Najib said in an email. “Through our joint deployment of police personnel, the Netherlands, Australia and Malaysia will work together to achieve justice for the victims.” | “Three grieving nations have formed a coalition to secure the site,” Mr. Najib said in an email. “Through our joint deployment of police personnel, the Netherlands, Australia and Malaysia will work together to achieve justice for the victims.” |
| The announcement by Mr. Najib could clear away one of the obstacles that has hindered foreign police officers from guarding and searching the area where Flight 17 fell, but the heavy fighting that broke out Sunday threatened yet more delays. | The announcement by Mr. Najib could clear away one of the obstacles that has hindered foreign police officers from guarding and searching the area where Flight 17 fell, but the heavy fighting that broke out Sunday threatened yet more delays. |
| “I am deeply concerned that international investigators have been unable to properly deploy to the crash site because of the volatile security situation,” said Mr. Najib. “It is imperative that we deploy a full team of investigators to ensure that all the human remains are removed from the site, identified and repatriated.” | “I am deeply concerned that international investigators have been unable to properly deploy to the crash site because of the volatile security situation,” said Mr. Najib. “It is imperative that we deploy a full team of investigators to ensure that all the human remains are removed from the site, identified and repatriated.” |