Panama finds MiG fighter jets on North Korean arms ship

Panama finds MiG fighter jets on North Korean arms ship
Sun Jul 21, 2013 9:32pm EDT

COLON, Panama (Reuters) - Panamanian investigators unloading the cargo
of a seized North Korean ship that carried arms from Cuba have found the
two MiG-21 fighter jets the Cuban government had said were on board, the
government said on Sunday.

Alongside the two supersonic planes, originally produced by the Soviet
Union in the late 1950s, officials found two missile radar systems on
board the Chong Chon Gang, President Ricardo Martinelli told reporters
in the Atlantic port of Colon.

The discovery, which included cables and electrical equipment, was made
inside containers on the ship Panama had feared might contain explosive
material. None was found.

After stopping the vessel bound for North Korea last week, Panama
revealed it had found weapons in the cargo hold late on Monday. In
response, Cuba said the shipment contained a range of "obsolete" arms
being sent to North Korea for repair.

Panama has asked the U.N. Security Council to investigate the ship and
its contents amid suspicion that the vessel is in breach of a
wide-ranging arms embargo on North Korea for its nuclear and ballistic
missile program.

"One can't take undeclared weapons through the Panama Canal below other
cargo," Martinelli said, adding that he had not spoken personally to any
Cuban officials since they first asked for the ship to be released last
Saturday.

Javier Caraballo, Panama's top anti-drugs prosecutor, said the planes
gave off a strong odor of gasoline, indicating that they had likely been
used recently. So far, Panama has not found anything not on the Cubans'
list of ordnance, he added.

The U.N. team is expected to arrive in early August once Panama has
finished unloading the 155 meter (510 foot) ship.

The weapons were hidden under thousands of sacks of sugar on the
freighter. Before the arms were discovered, Cuba told Panama the cargo
was a donation of sugar for the people of North Korea.

The isolated Asian nation has asked Panama to release the ship and its
35 member crew, who were arrested and charged with attempting to smuggle
undeclared weapons through the canal.

Panama has so far dismissed North Korea's requests.

(Writing by Dave Graham; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

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