Panama likely to release crew of detained ship to North Korea: official

Panama likely to release crew of detained ship to North Korea: official
Lomi Kriel Reuters
8:42 p.m. EDT, August 13, 2013

PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Panama likely will return the 35-member crew of a North Korean ship detained for smuggling Cuban weapons under 10,000 tons of sugar to their native country in about a month, a government official familiar with the incident said on Tuesday.

"They're going to leave soon, like in a month, most likely they'll go back to Korea," the official said on condition of anonymity. "There is another possibility that they're returned to Cuba and from there go to Korea."

The Central American country will not respond to a request from Pyongyang seeking a "diplomatic manner" to resolve the future of the ship, the Chong Chon Gang, until the U.N. Security Council determines whether the shipment breached a wide-ranging North Korean arms embargo.

The crew have been charged with threatening Panama's security by seeking to move undeclared weapons through the Panama Canal. The Panamanian government official did not say why the crew likely would be released or how the charges would be resolved.

More:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/nationworld/sns-rt-us-panama-ship-20130813,0,3113635.story

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