Missing Malaysia Airlines flight may not terror incident: Interpol chief

The missing of a Malaysia Airlines flight was not likely caused by a terrorist attack, Interpol chief said Tuesday.

"The more information we get, the more we are inclined to conclude it was not a terrorist incident," said Interpol Secretary General Ronald K. Noble.

According to earlier reports, two passengers had used stolen or lost European passports boarding the plane with 239 people.

The international police agency has confirmed the identities of two Iranian nationals who used the two stolen passports to board missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH 370, and neither of them had a criminal record, Noble told reporters on Tuesday.

The identities of the two men who used the Austrian and Italian passports, which were recorded in Interpol's Stolen and Lost Travel Documents (SLTD) database, to board the aircraft were confirmed by Iranian authorities as Seyed Mohammed Reza Delavar, aged 29, and Pouria Nourmohammadi, aged 18, said the organization in a statement issued Tuesday at its headquarters in Lyon, France.

Interpol's National Central Bureau in Teheran also confirmed that "neither of the men had a criminal record and both left Iran legally, and we are now calling on the public's assistance in providing additional information about their movements," Noble was quoted as saying.

What remains of serious concern to Interpol, is that "approximately four out of every 10 international passengers are not being screened against SLTD database," he added.

Interpol's SLTD database, created in 2002 following the 9/11 attacks, is aimed at helping countries secure their borders and protect their citizens from terrorists and other dangerous criminals known to use fraudulent travel documents.

By screening travel document against Interpol's SLTD database, the enquirer will be alerted to any documents which have been reported lost or stolen and which may represent a security threat, the statement noted.

But "few member countries systematically search Interpol's databases to determine whether a passenger is using a stolen or lost travel document to board a plane," as a result of which the world is speculating whether the stolen passports were used by terrorists to board MH 370, according to a previous Interpol's statement.

In 2013, less than 20 of Interpol's 190 members systematically checked passports of international travellers against Interpol's data bases, according to the organization.