Thai prosecutors are reported to have dropped charges against the five-man crew of an aircraft carrying 35 tons of weapons from North Korea that was intercepted in Bangkok last December.
The weapons were being airlifted in breach of United Nations Security Council resolution 1874, banning arms exports from the Communist state in response to its nuclear and long-range missile tests.
A spokesman from the Attorney General's Office, says the five men--four Kazakhs and a Belarussian--will be deported to face prosecution in their home countries but did not say when they would be deported.
He told reporters Thursday that Belarus and Kazakhstan have contacted the Thai foreign ministry, indicating that they wanted these suspects to be investigated in their countries.
He said the decision (not to charge the crew and deport them) was partly made to maintain a good relationship with the two countries.
Separately, Kayasit Pissawongprakan, Director-General of Thailand's Attorney-General's office, told reporters that though the five men may be guilty, they are not indicting them as there is no evidence they were using Thailand as a base for transferring weapons.
Thai authorities seized the Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane on December 12 during a refueling stop at Bangkok's Don Muang airport. The ultimate destination of the arms that included rockets, fuses, rocket launchers and rocket-propeled grenades, remains unknown.
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