Tony Abbott calls for international force to secure MH17 crash site

A MULTINATIONAL security force including Australians could be deployed to Ukraine to protect MH17 debris, Tony Abbott says.

A MULTINATIONAL security force including Australian personnel could be deployed to eastern Ukraine to protect the debris from “evidence tampering on an industrial scale”, Tony Abbott says.

The Prime Minister stated his preference for a multinational force as he confirmed a RAAF C-17 Globemaster military transport was en route to transport the remains of the dead from Ukraine to the Netherlands.

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Mr Abbott said security must be ensured at the crash site and, although it was still too early to say how that would be achieved, he believed it “would best be provided by the countries that have been so wronged here”.

Mr Abbott said the victims’ bodies are expected in the Ukrainian government-controlled city of Kharkov from tomorrow morning, but cautioned it could take weeks to identify the remains properly.

“It would be terrible to compound families’ grief by risking the misidentification of their loved ones,” Mr Abbott said.

Mr Abbott was alarmed that the Russian-backed rebels appeared to be bringing heavy equipment into the MH17 debris field, saying the site looked “more like a building demolition than a forensic investigation”.

“After the crime comes the cover-up. What we have seen is evidence tampering on an industrial scale and obviously that has to stop,” Mr Abbott said in Canberra.

“A multinational police force, or a multinational force of some kind, is not something that can be just summonsed up in a matter of a few hours, but obviously there does need to be security at this site.

“I would think that the security for the site would best be provided by the countries that have been so wronged here.”

Mr Abbott declined to give details about discussions with other world leaders regarding the multinational force, but confirmed he was “speaking at length” with Malaysia’s Najib Razak and the Netherlands’ Mark Rutte “about what should happen now to ensure the site is secure and the investigation goes ahead in an unhindered way”.

“I will stay in close contact with other leaders in coming days to ensure the Security Council’s intent and the international community’s will is fully and swiftly implemented,” he said.

Mr Abbott noted UN Security Council Resolution 2166, approved unanimously by the council this morning, demands the rebels “refrain from any actions that may compromise the integrity of the crash site, including by refraining from destroying, moving, or disturbing wreckage, equipment, debris, personal belongings, or remains, and immediately provide safe, secure, full and unrestricted access to the site and surrounding area for the appropriate investigating authorities”.

“I’ve had now very many conversations with other international leaders and I expect that those conversations are just going to accelerate and increase in the days ahead so I’m not going to go into which particular person I’ve spoken to and what was the content of the call,” he said.

Mr Abbott said Russian president Vladimir Putin had so far kept his promise to cooperate with international authorities, praising his commitment to “do everything to provide security for the international experts on the site of the tragedy”.

Mr Abbott noted the “somewhat fragile ceasefire” between government and rebel forces in eastern Ukraine, which he hoped was an indication of how seriously the combatants considered the missile attack.