Cuba claims weapons on N. Korean cargo ship
Source: Agencies |
July 18, 2013, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
CUBA said military equipment found buried under sacks of sugar on a North Korean ship seized as it tried to cross the Panama Canal was obsolete weaponry from the mid-20th century that it had sent to be repaired.
Panamanian authorities said it might take a week to search the ship, since so far they have only examined one of its five container sections. They have requested help from United Nations inspectors, along with Colombia and Britain, said Javier Carballo, Panama's top narcotics prosecutor. Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli said on Tuesday that the ship identified as the 14,000-ton Chong Chon Gang, which had departed Cuba en route to North Korea, was carrying missiles and other arms "hidden in containers underneath the cargo of sugar."
Martinelli tweeted a photo showing a green tube that appears to be a horizontal antenna for the SNR-75 "Fan Song" radar, which is used to guide missiles fired by the SA-2 air-defense system, said Neil Ashdown, an analyst for IHS Jane's Intelligence.
North Korea has not commented on the seizure.
Cuba's Foreign Ministry released a statement late on Tuesday admitting the military equipment belonged to the Caribbean nation, saying it had been shipped out to be repaired and returned to the island.
It said the vessel was bound for North Korea mostly loaded with sugar - 10,000 tons of it - but added that the cargo also included 240 metric tons of "obsolete defensive weapons": two Volga and Pechora anti-aircraft missile systems, nine missiles "in parts and spares," two Mig-21 Bis and 15 engines for those airplanes.
Panamanian authorities said it might take a week to search the ship, since so far they have only examined one of its five container sections. They have requested help from United Nations inspectors, along with Colombia and Britain, said Javier Carballo, Panama's top narcotics prosecutor. Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli said on Tuesday that the ship identified as the 14,000-ton Chong Chon Gang, which had departed Cuba en route to North Korea, was carrying missiles and other arms "hidden in containers underneath the cargo of sugar."
Martinelli tweeted a photo showing a green tube that appears to be a horizontal antenna for the SNR-75 "Fan Song" radar, which is used to guide missiles fired by the SA-2 air-defense system, said Neil Ashdown, an analyst for IHS Jane's Intelligence.
North Korea has not commented on the seizure.
Cuba's Foreign Ministry released a statement late on Tuesday admitting the military equipment belonged to the Caribbean nation, saying it had been shipped out to be repaired and returned to the island.
It said the vessel was bound for North Korea mostly loaded with sugar - 10,000 tons of it - but added that the cargo also included 240 metric tons of "obsolete defensive weapons": two Volga and Pechora anti-aircraft missile systems, nine missiles "in parts and spares," two Mig-21 Bis and 15 engines for those airplanes.
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