Plane detained in Bangkok not belong to Kazakhstan : Kazakh ministry

"This aircraft belonged to a private Kazakh company. On Oct. 7, 2009, it was sold to the airline Air West Georgia," the chairman was quoted as saying by Azerbaijan-based Trendnews online.

The plane was detained Dec 12, after landing for refuelling at Bangkok's Don Muang Airport. About 35 tonnes of war weapons were found in the plane's cargo.

According to the chairman, the airplane crew is four Kazakh citizens and one Belarusian citizen.

A Kazakh diplomatic mission is conducting activities to identify the circumstances surrounding the detainment of several Kazakh citizens involved in the incident, Adimolda said.

"At present, the identity of the Kazakh citizens is being investigated. It is known that they work for the Kazakh private airline East Wind, but were on leave without pay. How they were employed by the Georgian airline is still unknown," he said.