August 29, 2013 -- Updated 1945 GMT (0345 HKT)
Cuban weapons found in July aboard a North Korean ship trying to cross
the Panama Canal violated United Nations weapons sanctions, Panamanian
officials said, citing an unpublished U.N. report on the incident. FULL STORY
August 29, 2013 -- Updated 1725 GMT (0125 HKT)
The North Korean vessel Chong Chon Gang, with people aboard at Manzanillo harbour in Colon, on August 14, 2013.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Panama says it found fighter jets, explosives aboard North Korean ship in July
- Cuba says the weapons were going to be repaired and returned
- Panamanian officials cite unpublished U.N. weapons inspector report
- Shipment may have been intended to bolster North Korean defenses
Cuban officials said Thursday that they had no comment on the Panamanian allegations.
In July, Cuba's foreign ministry issued a statement that said the undeclared shipment discovered aboard the ship consisted of obsolete weapons being sent to North Korea for repairs before being returned to Cuba.
But Panamanian officials
have said that under 10,000 tons of Cuban sugar, they found operational
weaponry, including MiG fighter jets, anti-aircraft systems and
explosives.
Weapons found on North Korean ship
Cuba: Weapons on N. Korean ship are ours
Ship seized
"The Cuban weapons on the
North Korean ship undeniably violated the U.N. weapons embargo," said a
statement issued Wednesday by Panama's Ministry of Public Security,
citing a preliminary report by U.N. weapons inspectors who inspected the ship.
Despite Cuba's assertions
that the weapons were being sent for repairs, the shipment may have
been intended to bolster North Korea's own defenses.
"North Korea is very
interested in maintaining its MiG-21 fleet," said James Hardy,
Asia-Pacific editor for Jane's Defence Weekly. "It may be a 50-year-old
plane, but it's very fast and capable in a dogfight."
Still, Hardy said, if the
shipment was part of an illegal arms deal, it remains to be seen what
further sanctions Cuba or North Korea could face.
"The U.N. sanctions are very strict," he said. "But the consequences are not clear."
While authorities have not said what will become of the Cuban weapons, the North Korean crew may finally be heading home.
Panamanian authorities
met Wednesday with North Korean diplomats and said they agreed to begin
the process of repatriating the 35-member North Korean crew, who have
been held in Panama after initially trying to prevent authorities from
searching the ship.
That ship, the Chong
Chon Gang, could also be returned to North Korea after repairs are made.
According to the Panamanian statement, the crew rendered the ship
inoperable during the struggle to keep customs authorities from boarding
it.
Although secret
shipments of arms between North Korea and Cuba were not previously
well-known, they apparently have taken place for decades.
In July, former
President Fidel Castro wrote that in the 1980s, North Korea sent Cuba
100,000 AK-47 rifles after the Soviet Union denied the island military
aid that could be used to repel a feared U.S. invasion.
"They did not charge us a cent," Castro wrote of the North Korean shipments.
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- copy http://edition.cnn.com
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