Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein has confirmed that there were wooden pallets in MH370's cargo.
However, he said it is premature to state if the wooden pallet and belts sighted in the Indian ocean had come from the aircraft, which has been missing since March 8.
MAS chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya revealed at today's briefing that there was 200kg of lithium-ion batteries - apart from several tonnes of mangosteen - on the Beijing-bound Boeing 777 with 229 passengers and crew.
Other items on the cargo manifest included electronic goods and radios.
Previously, the spotlight landed on the batteries due to its flammable composition which had contributed to past aviation catastrophes.
Cargo manifest
However, it was reiterated this evening that the batteries were packaged according to international requirement.
On requests by Australian authorities investigating sightings of objects possibly linked to MH370 in the Indian Ocean for the cargo manifest, Jauhari said the manifest is with the investigation team in Malaysia and a formal request would have to be made.
As for the police investigation, Hishamuddin said more than 100 people have been interviewed, including the families of the pilot and co-pilot.
He also said the technical team is considering making public the transcript between the pilots and the control tower.
Updating the media on the Malaysian high-level team's briefings for families in Beijing, the minister said these have proceeded smoothly.
"There were hundreds of questions," he added.
'No anti-Malaysia sentiment'
Hishammuddin also denied that there was a prevailing "anti-Malaysia" sentiment in Beijing when responding to a question on Malaysian media being barred from briefings there.
As for the search and rescue mission, he said the operation "has taken us halfway around the world" but there are still no conclusive developments.
Despite the numerous sighting of debris in the southern corridor, the minister said equal emphasis is given to the northern corridor.
To another question, Hishammuddin stressed on the importance of locating the black box to determine what had actually transpired but noted that all possibilities are being looked into.
Asked if there is a possibility that the pilots or others on the plane could have been responsible for what happened, Hishammuddin replied: "We are not discounting that possibility."
"But there is no ransom note, no groups claiming responsibility and this leads to further speculation.
"Hence, we need parallel investigations. To be fair to the teams involved, we cannot reveal everything. If I do that, then I would be speculating as well," he added.
