Panama to Free 32 Sailors in Cuba-NKorea Arms Case

Panama will release 32 of 35 North Korean sailors detained for carrying undeclared Cuban arms as their ship was about to transit the Panama Canal, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

Panamanian authorities seized the Chong Chon Gang on July 10 after discovering 25 shipping containers of Cuban military hardware, including two MiG-21 fighter jets, concealed in a sugar shipment.

Crew members face up to 12 years in prison if convicted on arms trafficking charges, according to prosecutors.

The group has been "authorized to leave the country, but the ship will remain... until there is agreement on payment of a fine," said the ministry's anti-terrorism chief Tomas Cabal.

Organized crime prosecutor Nathaniel Murgas later said that the ship was no longer technically being held by Panamanian authorities, but that it still could not be moved until the fine was paid.

And he did not confirm when the sailors would be released.

The Panama Canal Authority said the ship was fined a million dollars for endangering the strategic waterway.

Panama charges that the shipment violated the U.N. arms embargo against North Korea.

Both Havana and Pyongyang said they were "obsolete" Cuban arms being shipped to North Korea for refurbishment under a legitimate contract.

The communist allies did not explain why the items were buried under more than 200,000 sacks of sugar on the ship.