BANGKOK: Police say a court in Thailand has approved a 12-day detention for the crew of a seized plane carrying 35 tons of weapons from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Police spokesman Pongsapat Pongjaren said yesterday that the Bangkok Criminal Court approved a request by authorities to keep the five-man crew detained for further investigation.

The crew includes four men from Kazakhstan and one from Belarus. They were arrested on Saturday when their plane was impounded in Bangkok during a reported refueling stop.

Investigators found 35 tons of war weaponry they said was apparently loaded in the DPRK in violation of UN sanctions.

Thailand has not disclosed where the plane was headed.

"If the government of that country confirms the presence of (DPRK) weapons aboard the plane, it is necessary to take measures in connection with this blatant violation of UN resolutions," Itar-Tass news agency quoted a representative of South Korea's Foreign Affairs who refused to be identified.

AP-Reuters

(China Daily 12/15/2009 page12)