Seized plane crew charged

BANGKOK, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- Thai authorities filed charges of illegal possession of weapons against five crew members of a plane seized in Bangkok for transporting North Korean arms.

The crew of four from Kazakhstan and one from Belarus will be held without bail for 12 days more pending further investigation into the incident in which the plane was seized after it stopped in Bangkok last Saturday for refueling, the BBC reported.

On inspection, the Ilyushin cargo plane was reported to be carrying about 40 tons of weapons including rocket propelled grenades, explosives and missile components.

Although the plane's final destination was not known, its flight while proceeding to North Korea may have originated in Central Asia, the report said. It made several stops along the way including Thailand on Friday, and it was when the plane returned to Bangkok the next day that it was seized and searched.

Britain's Daily Telegraph reported surface-to-air missile launchers also were found in the cargo. The crew told investigators they believed the cargo was oil-drilling equipment from Pyongyang.

A Thai media report quoted one of the crew members as telling police the flight originated in Ukraine.

Only last week, U.S. Special Representative Stephen Bosworth spent three days in North Korea to persuade officials to return to the six-nation talks on its nuclear disarmament.

North Korea is under a U.N. arms embargo and all member nations are required to abide by it.