Sri Lanka: No weapons on Tamil aid ship

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, June 8 (UPI) -- Sri Lanka says a cargo ship it suspected of carrying military supplies for Tamil rebels contains only food, medical items and similar goods.

The country's navy last week intercepted the vessel, sent by Tamil expatriate groups in Europe, but a military spokesman told the BBC Monday it had found only food and medical items so far aboard the Captain Ali.

A spokesman for the Tamil expatriate group told the British broadcaster the search had been suspended for the time being and the navy personnel still were very friendly and courteous, but emphasized the ship had nothing whatsoever to do with the defeated Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebel group and wanted only to deliver humanitarian aid to civilians displaced by fighting.

Sri Lanka's defense ministry had initially described the Captain Ali as an Tamil Tiger vessel but the BBC reported that Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa confirmed in a Sunday newspaper interview that the ship "did not have any dangerous intentions."