French inspection: North Korean ship has no illegal cargo

November 16, 2006

Officials on the island of  said that a North Korean vessel they searched today had no illegal cargo.

The ship was searched by French to enforce  imposed by an October 14 resolution of the United Nations Security Council.

The UN passed Resolution 1718, imposing new sanctions on North Korea, in response to a test in October. The ship was searched at the small French island of Mayotte. The BBC reports that this may be the first search of a North Korean vessel under the new sanctions regime.

Update: November 17, 2006, Press agency AFP reported last night that French authorities plan to continue inspecting the ship until the end of the week.