Slain Diplomat Was Helping Get MH370 Debris to Malaysia

On August 24, Zahid Raza, serving as the Malaysian consul to Madagascar, was killed in the Malagasy capital of Antananarivo. According to reports, he was shot multiple times while seated in the driver’s seat of his car. Mr Raza is reported to be of French-Malagasy nationality.

Last December, Reuters reported that Mr Raza assisted Blaine Gibson in transferring the custody of pieces believed to be from MH370 from Madagascar to Malaysia. At that time, six pieces were transferred. This has raised questions as to whether there was a link between those MH370 parts and Mr Raza’s death.

What makes a possible link to MH370 even more suspicious is that in the time period surrounding his death, Mr Raza was expected to visit the Malagasy Ministry of Transport, retrieve additional recovered pieces, and deliver those pieces to Malaysia. In a private communication from Blaine to me, he writes (repeated here with his permission):

On August 16 possible MH 370 debris was handed over to Madagascar authorities, and authorities in Malaysia were notified. Under the agreement between the two countries, debris is supposed to be collected by Hon. Zahid Raza, the honorary Malaysian Consul in Madagascar, and delivered by private courier to Malaysia.

On August 24 the Hon. Zahid Raza was assassinated in Antananarivo. At first we did not know if he had picked the debris up before this tragedy. We just learned that the debris is still safely in the hands of Madagascar authorities. However new arrangements must be made for the collection and delivery of debris.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the Hon. Zahid Raza.

In the aftermath of Mr Raza’s death, there seems to be conflicting stories about his background. He appears to be of French-Malagasy nationality, with family living in France and in the French Reunion Island. In one report, he is referred to as the “former” consul, but other reports imply he held the title of Honorary Consul at the time of his death. There is a report linking Mr Raza to a group associated with the kidnapping of residents of Indo-Pakistani descent that are living in Madagascar. (Madagascar does not grant automatic citizenship to those born on Malagasy soil. As a result, some Indo-Pakistani residents are from families that have lived in Madagascar for over a century.) The association of Mr Raza with the kidnappers has not been confirmed, and could be disinformation. Hopefully, the facts surrounding this will surface.

Surprisingly, the assassination of Mr Raza has been met with stony silence from both Malaysia and France, despite his ties to both countries.

I join Blaine in expressing my sincere sympathy to Mr Raza’s family.