One of two men who used false passports to board the missing
Malaysia Airlines flight was an Iranian asylum seeker and not believed to
belong to a terrorist group, say police.
Malaysian police have said that one of the two men was an 19-year-old Iranian asylum seeker trying to reach Germany.
The identity of the other man continues to be investigated.
Inspector General of Police Khalid Tan Sri said: "To date we have uncovered two passengers which was travelling on a stolen passport.
"We have identified one of them. And this one that we have identified is an Iranian by the name of Pouria Nour Mohammad Mehrdad.
"He is 19 years old and he is an Iranian - we believe that he is an Iranian. We have been checking his background.
"We have also checked him with other police organisation on his profile, and we believe that he is not likely to be a member of any terrorist group. And we believe that he is trying to migrate to Germany."
The new search area, well beyond the projected flight path of the plane, was confirmed by Malaysia Airlines on Tuesday morning as they continue to look at the possibility the plane attempted to turn back towards Kuala Lumpur.
The "extensive" search and rescue operation is being conducted with the help of Australia, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, and the United States. Nine aircraft and 24 ships are currently deployed.
"All angles are being looked at. We are not ruling out any possibilities," a spokesperson for the airline said.
"Apart from the search in the sea, search on land in between these areas is also conducted."
According to investigators, the last known position of MH370 before it disappeared off the radar was 065515 North (longitude) and 1033443 East (latitude).
Investigators are baffled by the lack of any wreckage and cannot understand why the black box flight recorders are not transmitting a signal. They are designed to transmit signals on contact with water.
In the Thai capital Bangkok, police say an Iranian man bought the airfares for two men using the passports.
Thai Police Lt Col Ratchthapong Tia-sood has revealed a travel agency in the beach resort of Pattaya, Grand Horizon, sold the tickets for the two men to an Iranian man known only as Mr Ali.
The passengers had purchased one-way tickets to Europe. The travellers had previously bought other tickets to Europe with different airlines but missed the flights hence the new booking, the Thai travel agency said.
"We have to look further into this Mr Ali's identity because it's almost a tradition to use an alias when doing business around here," Colonel Tia-sood said.
Grand Horizon's owner, Benjaporn Krutnait, told The Financial Times she believed Mr Ali was not linked to terrorism as he asked for cheapest tickets to Europe.
She also said Mr Ali - who had been regularly buying tickets from her for around three years - had not specified the Kuala Lumpur to Beijing flight.
Security services are investigating whether the Boeing 777-200 was hijacked or destroyed in a terror attack.
Authorities admit they are "puzzled" by the "unprecedented" disappearance of the plane.
The airline has confirmed that the 12-year-old Boeing 777 was serviced 10 days before it went missing.
"The B777-200 aircraft that operated MH370 underwent maintenance on 23 February 2014, 10 days before this particular flight on 8 March 2014," a statement said.
"The next check is due on 19 June 2014. The maintenance was conducted at the KLIA hangar and there were no issues on the health of the aircraft."
Earlier reports of debris spotted in the South China Sea, including an aircraft door, have not been confirmed, while a possible sighting of a section of the plane's tail has been ruled out.
Rescuers are also responding to reports of debris floating in the sea south of Hong Kong.
It has also been confirmed that samples of oil taken from a slick in the South China Sea came from a ship, not the missing aircraft.
With no confirmation that the Boeing 777 has crashed, hundreds of distraught relatives are still waiting anxiously for any news.
Nearly two-thirds of the passengers on the flight were Chinese and if the loss of the plane is confirmed, it would be the country's second-worst air disaster.
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