N. Korean weapons seized in Bangkok were headed for Middle East
by greta Berlin
Sunday, Dec. 20, 2009 at 10:47 AM
The North Korean weapons seized in Bangkok last week were bound for the Middle East, the chief U.S. intelligence official said Friday.
"Teamwork among different agencies in the United States and partners abroad just last week led to the interdiction of a Middle East-bound cargo of North Korean weapons," said Dennis Blair, director of national intelligence, in a contribution to the Washington Post titled "Strengthening our nation's front line of defense."
It is the first time that a senior U.S. official discussed the destination of the 35 tons of missile parts, rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons seized in Bangkok Saturday on a refueling stop.
Blair is also the first U.S. official to publicly say the U.S. helped the Thai authorities impound the Georgia-registered cargo plane, although Thai officials have said they were acting on a tip from the U.S.
North Korea is banned from exporting or importing any weaponry under U.N. resolutions adopted after its nuclear and missile tests.
Speculation is rife on the cargo's specific destination as an investigation of the five crew members of the plane is under way for possession of illegal arms. Four of the crew members are from Kazakhstan and the fifth from Belarus.
Arms sales are one of the major sources of revenue for North Korea, suspected of being behind nuclear and missile proliferation in Syria, Iran, Pakistan and several other countries.
The seizure coincided with the visit to Pyongyang by Stephen Bosworth, special representative for North Korea policy, last week in the first high-level contact with North Korea since the Obama administration' s launch in January.
Bosworth failed to obtain the North's commitment to return to the six-party nuclear talks, which also involve South Korea, China, Japan and Russia, but said he hopes that will happen after further consultation.
Meanwhile, the U.S. will continue sanctions on North Korea, Bosworth said. He pointed to the seizure of the cargo plane.
"We think this is a good example of why sanctions are effective and the importance of sanctions," he said. "The North Koreans come back to the six-party process, we resume significant progress on denuclearization and then the Security Council will evaluate the status of the sanctions."
