Malaysia Airlines (file)
Malaysia Airlines (file)Reuters

Further evidence that the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight 370 last week may have been a planned terror attack has surfaced on Sunday, according to the Telegraph, after a British court heard testimony from Al Qaeda terrorist Sajid Badat that islamists had been planning a "9/11 style" attack for weeks.

Four to five Malaysian islamist terrorists had been planning to use a shoe bomb to blow open the cockpit door and take control of the plane, in a style similar to the September 11, 2001 attacks, according to a convicted British terrorist.

The terrorist had already met with the Malaysian islamists in Afghanistan- one of whom is reportedly a pilot - and given them a bomb to use during the flight.

Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak admitted to the media late Saturday that someone had "deliberately switched off" the Boeing 777's communications systems, leading to widespread alarm that the missing flight had, in fact, been a terrorist attack.

Additional information that emerged Saturday included that the plane had flown for at least seven hours after losing contact with civilian radar; that the plane had flown towards either Indonesia or Khazakstan before the transponder was disabled; and that at least one official has stated publicly that the plane was hijacked, though Razak continues to deny this.  

In light of the new information - and the fact that Malaysian officials had already begun searching the homes of the missing pilots - security experts confirmed to the daily that the terrorist's testimony was "credible" and already under investigation. 

Badat said the Malaysian plot was being masterminded by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the principal architect of 9/11. He also told the court last week that he believed the Malaysians, including the pilot, were “ready to perform an act.”