For the moment, it is not pilot error [which caused the crash]

Captain Hamid Ali

Earlier on Friday, special prayers were held in mosques in Bahrain and Egypt, where the doomed airliner had taken off.

Funerals took place in Manama and relatives carried out the painful act of identifying loved ones from photographs of their remains.

About 130 of the bodies have been identified and handed over to their families.

Most of the wreckage has been retrieved from the shallow waters around the Bahraini archipelago and officials said the plane's two "black box" recorders would be sent for analysis to the US National Transportation Safety Board.

American officials also said that US Navy divers had recovered classified information contained in yellow diplomatic pouches that were being carried by an embassy courier, the only US citizen on board.

One attempt

Captain Ali told a news conference: "For the moment, it is not the pilot error" that caused Wednesday's accident.

Pilot Ihsan Shakeeb, picture with wife and children

"The plane made only one attempt.

"The pilot commenced a go-around ... and the plane disappeared from radar at one nautical mile from the airport."

There has been intense media speculation that excessive speed contributed to the crash, but Captain Ali stressed that only the official investigation could establish the reasons for the disaster.

Friday prayers

The bodies of the 63 Egyptian victims are to be flown home with their families on Saturday.

Crash countdown

1925 GL072 cleared for landing Pilot requests orbit 1928 Pilot asks to make another approach 1929 Pilot accepts radar to assist approach 1930 GL072 disappears from radar

Local times

More than half the 34 Bahrainis who died have already been buried in the small island's four cemeteries.

Funerary prayers were held at Manama's Grand Mosque on Friday attended by 2,000 Muslims including the Bahraini prime minister.

Three bodies wrapped in cloth, one the size of a small child, were laid in front of the congregation, as "a symbolic tribute" to those who had lost their lives, a government spokesman explained.

Gulf Air has announced an immediate interim payment of $25,000 to each of the bereaved families.

Investigation

Two crash investigators from the NTSB have arrived in Bahrain to help the enquiry into the crash.

The plane broke up after hitting the water

They join a representative from the plane's maker, Airbus Industrie, and French accident investigators.

Bahrain has also set up a committee to look into the causes of the crash. The panel will include the foreign investigators and representatives from Gulf Air and the Bahraini, French and Omani Governments.

A NTSB official will head the committee which transport ministry spokesman Ibrahim al-Hamar said was "the best option" to "expedite the investigation".