Israeli foreign minister says NKorean arms on plane seized in Bangkok were meant for Hamas

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Israel FM: NKorean arms on plane bound for Hamas

TOKYO — Israel’s foreign minister claimed Wednesday that North Korean weapons aboard a plane seized in Bangkok in December were bound for Middle Eastern militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said during a visit to Japan that North Korea, Syria and Iran are cooperating as a new “axis of evil” and pose the biggest threat to world security because they are building and spreading weapons of mass destruction.

“We saw this kind of cooperation only two or maybe three months ago with the North Korean plane in Bangkok with huge numbers of different weapons with the intention to smuggle these weapons to Hamas and Hezbollah,” Lieberman told reporters in Tokyo.

Acting on a tip from the United States, Thai authorities on Dec. 12 seized an Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane from the North Korean capital of Pyongyang when it landed in Bangkok. It was carrying 35 tons of weapons — a violation of U.N. sanctions against North Korea.

Flight documents indicated the plane’s cargo — listed as oil drilling equipment — was headed for the Iranian capital Tehran. Iranian officials denied they were importing weapons.

The five-man crew — four from Kazakhstan and one from Belarus — claimed they were ignorant of what they were carrying. The crew was deported in February after prosecutors dropped all charges against them.

Analysts have said that while the aircraft may have been heading for Iran, the weapons could actually have been earmarked for radical Middle Eastern groups like Hamas and Hezbollah which Iran has bankrolled and supplied with weapons in the past.

Thai authorities say the weapons on board included explosives, rocket-propelled grenades and components for surface-to-air missiles.

The U.N. imposed sanctions banning North Korea from exporting any arms after the communist regime conducted a nuclear test and test-fired missiles. Impoverished North Korea is believed to earn hundreds of millions of dollars every year by selling missiles, missile parts and other weapons to countries such as Iran, Syria and Myanmar.

Lieberman, who met with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama during his visit, did not elaborate on his claims that the weapons were destined for Hamas and Hezbollah.

He also claimed that “missile programs” in Iran and Syria were receiving crucial assistance from the North Korean side, without elaborating.

“This axis of evil that includes North Korea, Syria and Iran — it’s the biggest threat to the entire world. Not to Israel but to the entire world,” he said.

Lieberman also called for tough sanctions on Iran by the U.N. Security Council over its refusal to stop uranium enrichment.

The United States and its allies fear Tehran will use the process to build a nuclear weapon. Iran denies any intention to do so, saying its nuclear program aims only to generate electricity.

Associated Press Writer Eric Talmadge contributed to this report.