Hunt for Mr Ali: Mystery Iranian businessman 'bought tickets used by men on stolen passports' who boarded doomed Malaysian Airlines flight to China

◼ Five passengers also checked on to flight but did not board plane - james Rush/Daily Mail

An Iranian businessman known only as Mr Ali is understood to have booked the tickets for the two passengers using the stolen passports of the missing Malaysian Airlines plane, it has emerged.

Authorities had today still found no trace of the missing plane despite searches by ships from six navies and dozens of military aircraft.

A Thai travel agent who arranged the tickets for the two passengers has now said she had booked them on the flight via Beijing because they were the cheapest tickets, it has been reported.

The travel agent in the resort of Pattaya said an Iranian business contact she knew only as 'Mr Ali' had asked her to book tickets for the two men on March 1.

She had initially booked them on other airlines but those reservations expired and on March 6, Mr Ali had asked her to book them again....

She told the Financial Times she did not think Mr Ali, who paid her in cash and booked tickets with her regularly, was linked to terrorism....

◼ Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370: Iranian Middleman Asked Thai Agent to Book Tickets on Stolen Passports - International Business Times

◼ Interpol probes more suspect passports from missing flight - Reuters

...Authorities later confirmed the two men - Austrian Christian Kozel and Italian Luigi Maraldi - were not on the plane, and their passports had been stolen in Thailand within the last two years.

An Interpol spokeswoman said a check of all documents used to board the plane had revealed more "suspect passports" that were being further investigated....

◼ POLICE ID PASSENGER USING STOLEN PASSPORT ON MISSING MALAYSIAN FLIGHT - Breitbart

While investigators have found no clues leading to the whereabouts of the flight, they have found some disturbing inconsistencies with passengers on the plane. Two passengers listed on the plane, both European nationals, were found alive and safe in their homes; their passports had been stolen in Thailand years ago. The identity of one man, according to the LA Times, is now known. Authorities announced that the man is not Malaysian but refused to disclose his identity or his nationality. In the same press conference, authorities noted they received an anonymous tip last week that terrorists were targeting Beijing, the destination of the missing flight.

In a separate conference, Rahman added in the press conference that there were five passengers listed who did not board the aircraft. Authorities are investigating the identities of two other suspicious passports attributed to individuals on the plane.

While the use of stolen passports is not unheard of by non-violent illegal immigrants attempting to move out of the region, authorities are not ruling out terrorism in the case of the missing plane. Malaysia has extensive ties with Al Qaeda; Osama bin Laden held the fateful summit to plan the September 11 terror attacks in its capital, Kuala Lumpur. The lack of distress signal from the pilots or attempts to generate publicity for a hijacking, if there was indeed a hijacking, have baffled investigators....

Adding one more layer to the mystery, relatives report that the telephones of passengers on the airplane ring, but no one answers, suggesting that they have not been fully disconnected or destroyed underwater.