Bangkok: Thai authorities need "one to two days" to examine 35 tons of weapons seized from a cargo plane from North Korea that stopped over at a Bangkok airport for refuelling, Thai Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thuagsuban said on Sunday.
Suthep told reporters that this is a sensitive international issue and Thai security authorities have to investigate the case carefully.
"We have to be careful because it`s related to several countries, and I want to emphasise that Thailand does not have negative intention toward any country," he said.
Police and military officials said the weapons seized included more than 20 anti-aircraft missile launchers and at least 48 antitank rocket-propelled bombs.
Thai authorities, acting on a UN Security Council sanctions resolution adopted in June against North Korea, seized the weapons and detained five crew members of the plane, four Kazaks and one Belarusian.
The crew told Thai authorities that the cargo contained spare parts, police said.
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Sunday pledged to handle the case under UN resolutions and Thai law.
He said the police would charge the crew members of the cargo plane with possessing undeclared items.
PTI
