Has the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH 370 landed into a Taliban-dominated area?

Kuala Lumpur: After a number of theories of a possible sea crash, hijack, pilot suicide, investigators are now reportedly looking at a possibility of the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH 370 being flown to Taliban-controlled areas. A report in The Independent said, “After Flight MH370 vanished, Malaysian authorities are seeking diplomatic permission to investigate a theory that the Boeing 777 may have been flown under the radar to Taliban-controlled bases on the border of Afghanistan and North West Pakistan. The latest revelation came as it was revealed that 25 countries are assisting in the search for the plane, intensifying challenges of coordinating ground, sea and aerial efforts.” Meanwhile, aviation officials in Pakistan, India and Central Asia as well as Taliban militants said that they knew nothing about the whereabouts of a missing Malaysian jetliner. Apart from China and US and India, countries known to be involved include Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Burma, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, France and Australia. The last words from a Malaysian passenger jet missing for 10 days were apparently spoken by the co-pilot, the airline said Monday, providing a glimpse into the crucial period when the plane was deliberately diverted. Clarification that the voice was most likely that of First Officer Fariq Abdul Hamid came during a press conference at which Malaysian officials hit back at "irresponsible" suggestions that they had misled the public -- and passengers' relatives -- over what happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah and Fariq, his co-pilot, have become a primary focus of the investigation, with one of the key questions being who was in control of the aircraft when it veered off course about an hour into its flight to Beijing. The nonchalant-sounding last message from the cockpit -- "All right, good night" -- came around the time that two of the plane's crucial signalling systems were manually disabled. "Initial investigations indicate it was the co-pilot who basically spoke," said Malaysia Airlines CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya. The last signal from the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) was received 12 minutes before the co-pilot's final words. The transponder -- which relays a plane's location -- was switched off just two minutes after he spoke, and a few minutes later the aircraft turned back on its flight path. (With AFP inputs)