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Politics : American Presidential Politics and foreign affairs -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Peter Dierks who wrote (38607)	12/13/2009 2:11:41 AM
From: Peter Dierks	Respond to of 71588

Thailand Seizes Weapons on Plane From North Korea DECEMBER 13, 2009, 12:29 A.M. ET. By PATRICK BARTA and EVAN RAMSTAD BANGKOK – Thailand officials seized a plane from North Korea that was loaded with missiles, explosives and other weapons after it stopped in a Bangkok airport for refueling. The detention of the plane – whose final destination was unknown – is among the first executed against North Korea by a United Nations member country since the U.N. Security Council in June created new rules designed to halt Pyongyang's ability to sell and transport arms. The rules were developed after the country tested a nuclear explosive in late May in defiance of previous U.N. sanctions. Thai Government spokesman Panithan Wattanayakorn said in an interview Sunday that the plane was registered in Georgia but flew to Bangkok from North Korea. He said it was scheduled to land next in Sri Lanka to refuel, but it wasn't known where the plane was headed after that. "The plane was very heavy," he said, with at least 30 tons of material including explosives, grenades and portable missiles uncovered in an initial search. He said police were still sifting through the cargo to determine its exact contents. Mr. Panithan said Thai authorities had been tracking the plane for several days in conjunction with investigative agencies from "several countries," but he did not name them. The plane landed sometime Friday evening, he said, and included five crew members, including four citizens of Kazakhstan and one from Belarus. Authorities detained the crew and were expected to bring them to court on Monday. The Web sites of Thai newspapers included photographs of a giant cargo plane parked on the tarmac surrounded by military trucks and investigators. Local media described the plane as a Russia-made Ilyushin Il-76 transporter aircraft. North Korea, one of the world's most impoverished countries, relies on arms shipments for a sizable portion of its foreign income. Some analysts estimate it reaps several hundred million dollars annually from arms trading. The country, which is run by an authoritarian regime that grants its citizens few freedoms, has been trying to build nuclear weapons since the 1970s. Other nations, led by the U.S., have tried since the early 1990s to persuade it to give up its pursuit of nuclear weapons by offering food and money. North Korea has continued the program, however, and has prolonged diplomatic interactions over it in a strategy that has allowed the regime to remain in power and wield influence in the world's weapons scene that is outsized to its economic strength. In an early test of the new U.N. rules to slow North Korean arms sales, the U.S. Navy in late June and early July tracked a North Korean vessel suspected of carrying weapons to Myanmar. But the vessel turned back to North Korea while it was in the Sea of China, before it needed to reach any refueling port where it could be boarded. In July, inspectors in the United Arab Emirates detained a ship carrying North Korean arms and explosive powder that was headed to nearby Iran. That ship left North Korea just five days after the May 25 nuclear test but before the U.N. sanctions took effect. Write to Patrick Barta at patrick.barta@wsj.com and Evan Ramstad at evan.ramstad@wsj.com online.wsj.com