Malaysia, a majority Muslim country, had initially sought to have the remains returned by July 28 for Hari Raya, the festival marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.
Forty-three Malaysians died aboard flight MH17 operating from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, including 15 crew. There were 193 Dutch nationals among the 298 people on board.
"We cannot avoid a very painstaking process. This is both the technical requirement and the legal requirement," Najib told reporters after signing a condolences book at the Dutch embassy.
"Therefore it is highly unlikely that the bodies can be brought back in time for Hari Raya."
Two aircraft carrying remains of some of the passengers arrived in the Netherlands yesterday, where experts will work to identify them with DNA samples collected from relatives. The process could take months.
The remains of the victims will be brought over the next few days to a military base in the Dutch town of Hilversum.
Najib yesterday told Parliament that he maintained his stand that blame should not be apportioned pending an investigation.
"A few hours after MH17 crashed, officials in the US and Ukraine claimed it was shot down," Najib said.
"If that is true, we criticise the party believed to be responsible. However, we are not pointing fingers at anyone at this stage, until evidence has really been obtained."
Najib's cautious approach enabled him to work through intermediaries to reach Borodai and broker a deal to retrieve the black boxes and secure the release of the bodies.
A small group of Malaysian air crash experts became the first international accident investigators to reach the site on Tuesday, escorted by a convoy of international monitors and heavily armed separatist fighters. – Reuters
- TMI
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