GZ - I first thought that that theory has legs but after thinking about it for a while I've changed my mind.
He may well of started off by having negotiations in "private" but as soon as he killed the passengers presumably by oxygen starving at massive heights (reported as fact) he would have little to negotiate with. Plus it would be in his interests to have open discussions once he got the message that they weren't going to yield.
His links with the politics of Malaysia seems to be significant.
