Panama announces an undeclared Cuban weapons cargo found on a North Korean ship is an “undoubted violation” of the UN’ arms embargo on Pyongyang.
A draft report by UN experts sent to Panama after the seizure of the ship in July confirmed a breach of sanctions, the ministry of public security said.
Two North Korean diplomats are in Panama to assist the ship’s 35 crew.
Cuba said it shipped the arms to North Korea for repair. It did not say why they were hidden under tonnes of sugar.
A source in the public security ministry said authorities had been given a first draft of the report compiled by UN sanctions panel experts, the AFP news agency reports.
The ship, the Chong Chon Gang, was seized on suspicion it was carrying drugs.
The vessel had been navigating the Panama Canal.
North Korean ship Chong Chon Gang was seized in Panama on suspicion it was carrying drugs
Officials found 25 containers of military hardware, including two Soviet-era MiG-21 fighter aircraft, air defense systems, missiles and command and control vehicles.
The statement from the Panamanian public security ministry was released after the North Korean diplomats – from the country’s mission in Havana – visited the crew members at a former military base.
They are being detained on suspicion of arms trafficking; an offence which carries a 12-year prison sentence.
The UN inspectors completed their work two weeks ago but are yet to present their official findings publicly.
The Chong Chon Gang left Russia’s far east on April 12 and travelled across the Pacific Ocean before entering the canal at the start of June, with Cuba as its stated destination.
The ship disappeared from satellite tracking systems after it left the Caribbean side of the canal, resurfacing on July 11.
Experts say this may indicate that the crew switched off the system that automatically communicates details of their location.
It was stopped near Manzanillo on the Atlantic side of the canal on July 15.
Under UN sanctions, North Korea is banned from weapons exports and the import of all but small arms.
North Korea has demanded the release of its ship detained in Panama with what appear to be missile radar and other weapons loaded in Cuba.
The communist country says its ship was sailing under a legitimate deal and calling the initial suspicion of drugs on board “a fiction.”
“The Panamanian investigation authorities rashly attacked and detained the captain and crewmen of the ship on the plea of ‘drug investigation’ and searched its cargo but did not discover any drug,” North Korea’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
“This cargo is nothing but aging weapons which are to send back to Cuba after overhauling them according to a legitimate contract,” the spokesman was quoted as saying by the official KCNA news agency.
“The Panamanian authorities should take a step to let the apprehended crewmen and ship leave without delay.”
North Korea has demanded the release of its ship detained in Panama
Panamanian authorities seized the North Korean freighter and found what appeared to be components for Soviet-era missile radar system under sacks of brown sugar.
The ship was stopped last week as it headed into the Panama Canal and authorities arrested the crew on Monday after finding undeclared missile-shaped objects, a potential violation of UN sanctions linked to the North’s nuclear and missile programmes.
Panama said on Wednesday that it had asked the UN to determine the legality of the cargo.
Cuba, which has close diplomatic ties with North Korea, said the cargo contained “obsolete defensive weaponry” being sent back to North Korea for repairs and included anti-aircraft missile batteries, disassembled rockets and fighter jet parts.
Security experts said there was a possibility North Korea was trying to import the equipment and the explanation about repairing the items may be a disguise.
Some reports claim the ship appears to have violated U.N. arms embargo on North Korea.
North Korea has been under wide-ranging sanctions under Security Council resolutions since 2006 that ban trade of most types of weapons after conducting missile and nuclear tests in defiance of international condemnation.
It tested a nuclear device for the third time in February that led to the adoption of the latest Security Council resolution that tightened the sanctions regime.
Cuba has admitted providing a stash of weapons found on board a North Korean ship seized in the Panama Canal.
The Cuban foreign ministry said the ship was carrying obsolete Soviet-era arms from Cuba for repair in North Korea.
The North Korean ship was seized by Panama last week after “undeclared military cargo” was found hidden in a shipment of sugar.
United Nations sanctions prohibit the supply of arms to North Korea in the dispute over its nuclear programme.
Cuba has admitted providing a stash of weapons found on board a North Korean ship seized in the Panama Canal
A Cuban foreign ministry statement said Cuba reaffirmed its commitment to “peace, disarmament, including nuclear disarmament, and respect for international law”.
It said the vessel was carrying 240 tonnes of obsolete defensive weapons – two anti-aircraft missile complexes, nine missiles in parts and spares, two MiG-21bis fighter planes and 15 MiG engines.
The Cuban statement said they were all made in the mid-20th Century and were to be repaired and returned to Cuba.
“The agreements subscribed by Cuba in this field are supported by the need to maintain our defensive capacity in order to preserve national sovereignty,” the statement went on.
Cuba said the ship’s main cargo was 10,000 tonnes of sugar.
The vessel, called Chong Chon Gang, left Russia’s far east on April 12 and travelled across the Pacific Ocean before entering the canal at the start of June, with Cuba as its stated destination.
Panamanian officials said the ship was carrying a cargo of sheet metal on its journey through the canal.
However, the vessel disappeared from satellite tracking systems after it left the Caribbean side of the canal, resurfacing on July 11.
Experts say this may indicate that the crew switched off the system that automatically communicates details of their location.
Panamanian officials tried to communicate with the vessel, suspecting it could be carrying illegal goods initially thought to be drugs.
The crew did not respond, so the ship was boarded and the weaponry was uncovered.
North Korea and Cuba are both nominally communist states and are known to have relatively close relations.
A high-level military delegation from North Korea visited at the end of June and was received by President Raul Castro.
Cuban media said they discussed “the historical ties that unite the two nations and the common will to continue strengthening them”.
Arms trafficking expert Hugh Griffiths told the BBC the ship’s voyage could be seen in the wider context of renewed military co-operation between the two nations.
Announcing the seizure of the vessel on Tuesday, Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli said it contained suspected “sophisticated missile equipment”.
Ricardo Martinelli posted on his Twitter account an image of a large green object inside a cargo container.
However, the Cuban statement suggests that the cargo was five decades old Soviet-era weaponry.
Panamanian officials said they had so far searched just one of the ship’s five container sections, and a full inspection would take at least a week.
The crew faces possible charges of illegal weapons smuggling in Panama.
Ricardo Martinelli said the 35-strong crew had resisted the search and the captain had tried to kill himself.
The US “commended” Panama for its actions, and said it strongly supported a full inspection of the ship.
The vessel was stopped near Manzanillo on the Atlantic side of the canal last week.
Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli has announced his country has seized a North Korean-flagged ship carrying “undeclared military cargo”.
Ricardo Martinelli told local media that the ship, which was sailing from Cuba, contained suspected “sophisticated missile equipment”.
He posted a photo of what looked like a large green object inside a cargo container on his Twitter account.
Ricardo Martinelli said the ship, which was searched on its way into the Panama Canal, was being held for further investigation.
The ship was stopped near Manzanillo on the Atlantic side of the canal.
Ricardo Martinelli said the authorities were checking the ship for drugs when they found the suspected weapons in containers of brown sugar.
Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli said the North Korean ship, which was sailing from Cuba, contained suspected sophisticated missile equipment
“We’re going to keep unloading the ship and figure out exactly what was inside,” he told local media.
The 35-member crew have been detained, including the captain who the Panamanian president said tried to kill himself during the search.
Security Minister Jose Raul Mulino said the ship “aroused suspicion by the violent reaction of the captain and the crew”.
Under UN sanctions, North Korea is banned from weapons exports and the import of all but small arms.
Sanctions were strengthened after its third nuclear test on February 12, including measures increasing states’ authority to inspect suspicious cargo.
In recent years a number of North Korean ships have been searched under the UN sanctions.
In July 2009 a North Korean ship heading to Burma was tracked by the US navy on suspicion of transporting weapons and subsequently turned around.
North Korea has an ongoing missile development programme.
In December it launched what it called a three-stage rocket to put a satellite into space. The move was condemned by the United Nations as a banned test of missile technology.
Experts believe the communist state is working towards developing a nuclear warhead small enough to put on a long-range missile.
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