By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
French authorities have allowed a North Korean ship to resume its Indian Ocean journey after an exhaustive search of its cargo of cement found no violation of UN sanctions.
The inspection of the Am Nok Gang found only "minor customs infringements," said a statement from authorities on the French territory of Mayotte, off the southeast coast of Africa. A French customs official said they turned up a slight excess of cigarettes and alcohol.
All 45 North Korean crew members held valid identity papers, and "no infringement related to UN Security Council Resolution 1718 was noted," said the statement, issued Tuesday.
The UN sanctions that followed the North's Oct. 9 nuclear test banned the sale of major arms to North Korea and called for the inspection of cargo entering and leaving the country - an effort to keep it from importing or exporting nuclear equipment or technology.
The ship had arrived in Mayotte waters on Nov. 9. It left Mayotte on Tuesday morning, headed for the Comoros Islands about 200 kilometers (125 miles) to the northwest.