Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia will ask Uruguay to return two US made Northrop F-5E jet fighter engines that were stolen from a Malaysian air force base, an incident that
caused a major embarrassment to the government here.
"We will be sending senior officers from the Malaysia Armed Forces and the Attorney-General's Chambers to Uruguay to retrieve the engines," Malaysian Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told national news agency Bernama.
Malaysian Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said he would send a team of officials to Uruguay after a court there ruled that the two engines belonged to Malaysia. The missing engines which caused major embarrassment to the Malaysian government were reportedly stolen from the air base in 2007.
The two engines were reportedly sold on the black market to a South American company. Two Malaysians including an air force officer have been charged in this case. A Malaysian air force sergeant and a businessman have been charged in connection the theft.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, October 03, 2010, 20:31