Britain joins call for MH17 tribunal as relatives mourn dead

The Hague 

Britain today joined a chorus of countries calling for a UN-backed tribunal to prosecute those responsible for downing flight MH17, as relatives remembered their dead in ceremonies on the first anniversary of the disaster.

All 298 passengers and crew -- the majority Dutch -- died on July 17 last year when the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777, on a flight between Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur, was shot down over rebel-held east Ukraine during heavy fighting between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists.

Kiev and the West point the finger at the separatists, saying they may have used a BUK surface-to-air missile supplied by Russia to down the plane. But Moscow denies involvement and instead accuses Ukraine's military.

"Justice must be delivered for the 298 innocent people who lost their lives," British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said in a statement.

"That requires an international tribunal, backed by a resolution binding all UN member states, to prosecute those responsible." 

On Friday, the Sydney Daily Telegraph newspaper released new footage which it said showed Russian-backed rebels ransacking the luggage of dead passengers among the smouldering wreckage of the plane.