Syria says the ship was carrying imported goods from Syria to Iran, not weapons [AFP]

The Israeli military says the arms were destined for the Lebanese armed political group, Hezbollah.

"This ship does not carry Iranian weapons to Syria and does not contain military material to manufacture weapons in Syria. This ship carries imported goods from Syria to Iran," Walid al-Moallem, the Syrian foreign minister, said on Wednesday.

His statement suggested that the ship was headed in the opposite direction of that claimed by Israel.

Addressing a joint news conference with Manouchehr Mottaki, his Iranian counterpart, in Tehran, al-Moallem ruled out interference in what he called the internal affairs of Lebanon.

"Iranian and Syrian governments have never put an obstacle in the way of the formation of a unity government in Lebanon and the two sides' agreements have always been welcomed by Iran and Syria," he said.

"Iran and Syria have not interfered in appointing ministers."

Cargo certificates

Israeli commandos boarded the ship before dawn on Wednesday in the waters near Cyprus.

The ship, the Francop, is operated by the United Feeder Services, a Cyprus-based shipping company that said it picked up the cargo in Damietta, Egypt, according to the Associated Press news agency.

However, the Israeli military said an Iranian document was found on board, showing that the arms shipment originated from Iran.

The weapons were in ordinary shipping containers, according Israeli officials [AF]

Lieutenant-Colonel Avital Leibovich, an Israeli military spokeswoman, said: "It's a cargo certificate that shows that it was from a port in Iran.

"All the cargo certificates are stamped at the ports of origin, and this one was stamped at an Iranian port."

Rear Admiral Roni Ben-Yehuda, the deputy Israeli navy commander, said "hundreds of tonnes" of weapons were found.

His estimate was much higher than an earlier one of more than 60 tonnes.

The weapons were "a drop in the ocean" of arms being shipped to Hezbollah, Ben-Yehuda said.

Howver, Israel had not provided evidence that the arms were meant for the Lebanese group.

The Israeli army insists that it was operating under existing international protocols for boarding and inspecting ships when it seized the vessel, our correspondent said.

Quoting officials who addressed a news conference after the seizure, Rowland said the weapons were in ordinary shipping containers hidden among hundreds of other containers on board the vessel.

Hezbollah reaction

Reacting to Israel's allegations, Hezbollah said it "staunchly denies any link to the weapons that the Zionist enemy has seized from the Francop ship.

"At the same time Hezbollah denounces Israel's piracy in international waters," it said.

The ship seizure comes three years after Israel and Hezbollah fought a bitter war that ended with a UN-brokered ceasefire. Occasional clashes continue to occur.

The seizure was bigger than a similar haul in 2002, when Israeli military confiscated a vessel with 50 tonnes of missiles, mortars, rifles and ammunition headed for Palestinian fighters in the Gaza Strip.

Hezbollah, which has widespread support in southern Lebanon, was originally established to fight the Israeli occupation of the region.

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