The persistent accusations against Malaysia risks undermining its role in coordinating the multinational effort. — Reuters pic

KUALA LUMPUR, March 24 — Malaysia may be withholding some information from its radar systems in the search for MH370 for fear that this could expose the country’s security and technical deficiencies, the New York Times reported a US official as saying.

The allegation comes as American investigators expressed concern over the weekend that Malaysia was still sending search assets for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 to the north of the country and towards Kazakhstan, where the US team said was not where the plane would be found.

Instead, they want Malaysia to concentrate search in the south of the Indian Ocean, where Australia, Chinese and French satellite imagery have spotted debris that may be linked to the Boeing 777-200ER that is now missing for over two weeks.

“The American investigators were also concerned that the Malaysian officials were not sharing all the information they had from their radar systems, the person said,” the US daily reported during the weekend.

One of two Japanese Government P-3 aircraft to arrive at RAAF base Pearce is guided to a stop March 23, 2014 in Bullsbrook near Perth. — Reuters pic Japan's Disaster Relief Team Leader Masahiko Kobayashi (right) waits with other officials for the arrival of two Japanese Government P-3 aircraft at RAAF base Pearce March 23, 2014 in Bullsbrook near Perth. — Reuters pic A family member of a passenger on board Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 speaks to the media after a routine briefing given by the Malaysian government and the military's representatives at Beijing, March 23, 2014. — Reuters pic Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force personnel wave from their Lockheed P-3C Orion aircraft en route to Australia to help with the search operations for the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 plane at Subang airbase March 23, 2014. — Reuters pic Flight officer Rayan Gharazeddine looks out of a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) AP-3C Orion as it flies over the southern Indian Ocean during the search for missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 March 22, 2014. — Reuters pic A crew member prepares to throw a GPS tracking buoy into the Southern Indian Ocean to mark the position of a solid object in the water, aboard a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 Orion aircraft searching for missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 March 22, 2014. — Reuters pic Previous Next

“The American investigators believe that the Malaysian government was reluctant to share information with them because they fear exposing their weak radar and satellite systems.”

Malaysia is under intense pressure over efforts to locate the missing plane, with accusations hurled against it for being slow in responding to the search and being uncooperative with investigative agencies from helping countries.

Western investigators maintain that Malaysia has snubbed offers for more manpower and aid to investigate the incident the country has classified as a criminal investigation.

Some countries also said Malaysia did not reply to their offers of experts and investigators until late into the search; France said it extended aid on March 9 but the French team that helped locate Air France flight AF447 was only sent on March 16 after Malaysia responded.

Criticism was also targeted at the country for failing to come forth with information captured from the flight’s Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS), which US investigators said indicated the plane’s flight deviation was programmed before the final radio transmission with Malaysian air traffic control.

The country insists, however, that it has been open and transparent from the start.

Malaysia also released confidential raw data from its military radars to investigators as part of the search.

But with the complexity of the search effort — there are now 26 countries trying to locate the missing plane — the persistent accusations against Malaysia risks undermining its role in coordinating the multinational effort.

MH370 and the 239 people on board disappeared less than an hour after the Beijing-bound flight left Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 12.41am on March 8. The plane and its passengers remain missing despite over two weeks of intensive searching by a multinational effort.