The New York Times (NYT) quoted the official as saying that more could have been achieved if Malaysia had agreed to receive more than the two FBI agents now helping out in Kuala Lumpur.
“We just don’t have the right to just take over the investigation,” said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is in progress.
“There’s not a whole lot we can do absent of a request from them for more help or a development that relates to information we may have.”
The FBI has had an agent based at the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur for more than a decade, and is said to have developed a working relationship with Malaysian law enforcement officials in recent years.
American officials told the NYT that they believe Malaysian leaders rebuffed US offers of assistance because they do not want to appear as though they need help with such a high-profile investigation.
US-based ABC News reported last Saturday that Interpol had offered help several times but that authorities in Malaysia had declined each time.
This was, however, denied by Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar, who said Malaysian authorities were working with "every agency, including Interpol".
On reports that the police have taken a flight simulator from the house of pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah, American officials said they are eager to know what the investigators have found and that they are willing to assist with this process.
In the days after the plane went missing on March 8, American investigators had told the NYT that they had scoured their huge intelligence databases for information about those on board, but had come up dry.
So far, US intelligence has not detected any “chatter among terrorists” about a terrorism plot, but do not discount the possibility of this being a factor behind the disappearance of the plane.
While the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) also reported there is frustration in some US quarters over the lack of information from Malaysia, the US military said the governments are cooperating.
Cmdr William Marks, the spokesperson for the US Seventh Fleet, said two governments are continuing to work together to piece together the likely flight path.
But WSJ ended its report on a hopeful note.
"After a week of mixed messages from Malaysian authorities, their news conferences over the weekend signalled officials were getting ahead of the story. For the first time, (premier) Najib (Abdul Razak) revealed more about the search than had been reported in the media...," it said.
It reported Najib as saying that Malaysia has given sensitive military radar data to countries such as the US and China to help locate Flight MH370.
Msiakini
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