(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - A military judge in Lebanon has charged 21 people, including customs agents and the crew of a ship loaded with weapons intended to be used for terrorist acts.

Some of the defendants were charged with dealing and participating in buying, transporting and shipping huge amounts of weapons, ammunition and explosives, SANA reported on Friday.

The others, however, were charged with complicity. The penalty for these acts is execution.

On April 27, the Lebanese Navy intercepted a cargo vessel suspected of smuggling weapons to Syria in the waters off north Lebanon.

The ship, which bore an Egyptian flag, had set sail from Alexandria and was headed to Syria.

Syrian officials have repeatedly announced that armed rebel groups operating in the country have been receiving weapons from supporters in Lebanon and other states that border Syria.

Qatar and Saudi Arabia are two of the countries accused of arming the anti-government rebels, though they do not share a border with Syria.

Syria has been the scene of unrest since mid-March 2011, with demonstrations being held both against and in support of Bashar al-Assad's government.

The West and the Syrian opposition blame Damascus for the year-long turmoil, but the government says the “terrorists” are responsible for the unrest, which it says is being orchestrated from abroad.

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