27 Feb 2010

Shipment of weapons seized by South Africa

6:58 pm on 27 February 2010

South Africa has confirmed it seized banned military equipment on a ship sailing from North Korea to the Republic of Congo.

The foreign ministry has reported the seizure to the UN Security Council, saying the shipment broke a UN weapons sanction against North Korea.

The report said spare parts for T-55 tanks were hidden among sacks of rice in two shipping containers.

The containers, seized last November, are being stored in Durban. The shipment was labelled as bulldozer parts.

Thailand confiscated more than 35 tonnes of arms from a cargo plane that made an emergency landing in Bangkok in December. Officials said the plane came from North Korea, which was banned from selling arms and related equipment under UN sanctions passed in June after Pyongyang carried out nuclear and missile tests.

The sanctions allow searches of transport travelling to or from North Korea suspected of carrying banned goods.