U-turn as Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim admits MH370 pilot is in-law's relative

Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has admitted the missing plane's captain, Zaharie Ahmad Shah, is a relative of his daughter in-law, contradicting comments he made a day earlier.

"I am not denying that he [Zaharie] is related to one of my in-laws and that I have met him on several occasions," he was quoted by The Straits Times as saying.

"In fact, he is a close friend of Sivarasa Rasiah, as we said before," he said.

Sivarasa is vice-president of the People's Justice Party, of which Anwar is de facto leader.

"Ninety per cent of taxi drivers out there are our supporters, but they don't go and hijack the cabs," Malaysian media quoted Anwar as saying.

When asked on Monday whether he knew Zaharie, Anwar replied: "I don't recollect the name, but when the photographs were shown, I remembered I had seen him at party meetings." He also said they had had no personal contact. But a parliamentary member from Malaysia's ruling party questioned Anwar's ties with Zaharie.