A Thai court on Monday extended the detention of the crew of a plane that flew a cache of heavy weapons out of North Korea, as Washington hailed the seizure as proof sanctions were effective.
The 30-tonne load, including missiles and rocket-propelled grenades, was discovered after a Belarussian pilot and four Kazakh crew landed to refuel at Bangkok's domestic Don Mueang airport on Friday.
It marks the first time an airborne arms cargo is known to have been seized under the latest UN sanctions against North Korea, imposed in response to Pyongyang's nuclear activities.
The men, all middle-aged, were charged with possessing weapons for war and on Monday a court extended their detention to allow police to investigate further.
"The court approved our request to detain them for another 12 days and they will be moved to Bangkok Remand Prison while their lawyer seeks bail," said national police spokesman Pongsapat Pongcharoen.
Thai media have claimed that the authorities were tipped off about the plane by US intelligence.
In Washington, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hailed the capture as a lesson also to Iran, against which the United States is threatening a drive for further international sanctions in relation to Tehran's nuclear activities.
Clinton said the seizure showed "the importance of international solidarity behind the sanctions" adopted by the UN Security Council in June after North Korea staged an underground nuclear weapons test.
"It shows that sanctions can prevent the proliferation of weapons.
"And it would not have been possible without strong action of the United Nations, and I think there's a lesson there for people around the world to see when it comes to Iran," Clinton said.
In Bangkok, defence lawyer Somsak Saithong said he would make a further bail application Tuesday with support from the Kazakh embassy.
Initial inspections suggested the cargo contained no nuclear weaponry, Air Vice Marshal Meatha Sangkavichitr said.
There was also no evidence of links to terrorism, according to Tawin Pleansri, secretary general of the national security council.
Pilot Mikhai Petukhou, 54, and crew members Viktor Abdullayev, 58, Vitaliy Shumkov, 54, Alexandr Zrybner and Ilyas Issakov, both 53, had told investigators they had "no idea" what they were transporting, Pongsapat said.
The plane had stopped in the United Arab Emirates and Thailand before flying to Pyongyang, government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said.
After returning from the North Korean capital, it was due to stop in Sri Lanka but its end destination was not clear, he added.
The weapons came from a North Korean company and the plane was registered in ex-Soviet Georgia, Thai premier Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Sunday.
He said the crew had requested permission to land for refuelling and told inspectors their cargo was oil-drilling equipment.
In the Kazakh capital the head of the country's civil aviation commission, Radilbek Adimolda, said the plane had belonged to a Kazakh airline but was sold to a Georgian airline in October.
He vowed that Kazakhstan "will carry out work to defend our citizens".
One Western expert told AFP on condition of anonymity that it was "completely clear" this was "a matter between the Americans and the Thais".
The US State Department says North Korea is thought to earn hundreds of millions of dollars from the sale of missiles and other illicit activities.
In the summer the US navy shadowed a North Korean freighter suspected of carrying banned cargo and believed to be bound for Myanmar, before the ship turned back.
In August, weapons including rocket-propelled grenades were found on a ship seized by the United Arab Emirates while travelling from North Korea to Iran.
The latest seizure carried echoes of Thailand's arrest last year of Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who was allegedly doing a deal to supply missiles to Colombian rebels, a case in which the United States has been closely involved.
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