Lebanon reportedly seizes ammo to Syrian rebels

PanARMENIAN.Net - Lebanese intelligence officers were questioning the crew of a Sierra Leone-flagged vessel on Sunday, April 29 over allegations it was carrying arms to Syrian rebels as fighting raged between the insurgents and regular troops, AFP reported.

Ten rebel fighters were among 32 people killed on Saturday as bloodshed persisted more than two weeks into a promised UN-backed truce, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The interception of the ship by Lebanon - currently governed by a largely pro-Syrian coalition - gave grist to Russian opposition to the tough Western and Arab line taken against its longtime Middle East ally.

Lebanon said it had intercepted three containers of heavy machineguns, artillery shells, rockets, rocket launchers and other explosives destined for rebel forces on a ship originating in Libya.

Syrian authorities have repeatedly charged that weapons are being smuggled from Lebanon to rebels.

On Saturday, government newspaper Tishrin wrote that UN chief Ban Ki-moon "avoids talking about abuses by armed groups and focuses his blame solely on Syria, as usual. He encourages these groups to continue to commit more crimes and terrorist acts."

The Russian foreign ministry said "we are convinced that the terrorists operating in Syria need a decisive rebuff, and that all domestic and outside players need to prevent any support" from reaching the rebel forces.