South Africa is making headway in its efforts to be voted back onto the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member. Its first term ended in December.

The government confirmed that it had told the UN's sanctions committee in New York that it had recently intercepted a shipment of North Korean weapons bound for the Republic of Congo.

"Our navy intercepted a vessel in our waters in November that was carrying a number of armaments and parts to build armaments," Saul Molobi, spokesman for the department of international relations and co-operation, told The Times.

Molobi would not specify the armaments seized, saying investigations were still under way, but he confirmed that it appeared that the shipment was bound for the Republic of Congo via Walvis Bay on the Namibian coast.

The weapons shipment appears to violate Security Council resolution 1874, which bans all North Korean arms exports and most weapons-related imports because of the country's nuclear programme.

The resolution, which was approved last year, authorised countries to inspect suspicious North Korean air, land and sea cargo and to seize contraband.

The shipping agent is reportedly a North Korean company and the cargo was first loaded onto a ship in China then transferred to a vessel owned by French shippers CMA-CGM, in Malaysia.

Elections for the African seat on the Security Council will be held during the UN general assembly in October.

By Staff reporter and agencies