DTN News: Thailand TODAY February 12, 2010 ~ Bangkok Drops Charges Over North Korea Weapons

DTN News: Thailand TODAY February 12, 2010 ~ Bangkok Drops Charges Over North Korea Weapons *Source: DTN News / By Thanaporn Promyamyai (AFP) (NSI News Source Info) BANGKOK, Thailand - February 12, 2010: Thailand said on Thursday it had decided to drop charges against the crew of a plane carrying sanctions-busting weapons from North Korea and ordered the five men deported. One of the plane's crew inside Bangkok criminal court last year The attorney general's office said it was not in the national interest to pursue the case against the Belarussian pilot and four-member Kazakh crew and said they would instead face trial in their home countries. "The trial here will not benefit Thailand so we have decided to drop the charges," Thanapich Mulapruk, spokesman for the attorney general's office, said in a statement. "Their countries of origin want to try the men in their home countries." No decision has been taken on what to do with the seized haul, which was found December 11 on a US tip-off after the crew requested to land their Ilyushin-76 plane at Thailand's domestic Don Mueang airport for refuelling. The men, who claimed they were carrying oil drilling equipment bound for Ukraine, were initially charged with possessing illegal weapons and ammunition, smuggling weapons and other banned products and failing to report the cache. The 35-tonne cargo, which included missiles and rocket-propelled grenades, is now being held at an air force base north of Bangkok. "The plane landed to refuel. Those arms were not aimed at attacking Thailand so the trial does not benefit (us)," Thanapich added. The United Nations banned all North Korean arms exports in a tougher resolution passed in June following Pyongyang's latest missile and nuclear tests. The Bangkok case is believed to be the first airborne arms cargo from Pyongyang to have been seized since then. A flight plan obtained by investigators showed the plane was bound for Iran -- which has denied it was the destination -- while US intelligence chief Dennis Blair has said it was headed to the Middle East. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said at the time that the United States was "very pleased" with the seizure of the weapons and that it "demonstrates the importance of international solidarity behind the sanctions". A spokeswoman for the US embassy in Bangkok said she could not immediately comment on Thursday's developments. Thai prison authorities handed the men over to police for fingerprinting before they were released to immigration officials for deportation, but the men's lawyer, Somsak Saithong, said that would not take place until at least Friday. "They arrived as pilot and crew so it would not be fair to fly them out on a commercial flight. But we wait to see when they will be ready (for deportation) and when their plane will be ready," Somsak said. Kazakhstan and Belarus both petitioned Thailand to ask for their nationals to be released for trial in their home countries. Analyst Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn university, said the decision to release the men was a blow to the United States. "It will be received as another point against Thailand in the American scheme of things," said Thitinan, adding that Thailand did not want to gain enemies by proceeding with the case. "I think the conclusion here was that the North Koreans have sparred with the Americans and there's a UN resolution on this, but why should Thailand be dragged into it?" he said. The five men had been held at the same jail as Russian alleged arms dealer Viktor Bout, dubbed the "Merchant of Death". He was arrested in Bangkok in March 2008 while allegedly agreeing to supply missiles to Colombian rebels. The Thai government is perceived to have worked closely with Washington on that case and is appealing a court decision rejecting a US request for his extradition. Related Articles Thailand To Deport Crew Of N. Korea Weapons Plane RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty - 14 hours ago Il-76 crew arrested in Thailand to be released Gazeta.KZ - 13 hours ago Thailand to deport crews of weapons cargo plane The Nation - 15 hours ago