Russia denies link to Syria plane cargo

Russia's state arms trader said on Friday that it had no connection to the "illegal" military items removed from a Moscow-Damascus passenger airliner forced to land in Turkey.

Turkish F-16 fighter jets forced down the Syrian Air Airbus A320 some three hours after it had taken off from Moscow's Vnukovo international airport late on Wednesday. Turkey eventually permitted the A320 to resume its flight after a five-hour inspection of the aircraft that resulted in the seizure of a number of items.

"We have no information available about the contents or ownership of any cargo," Vyacheslav Davidenko, a spokesperson for state arms trader Rosoboronexport, told RIA Novosti. "All cargo transport operations by us involving military equipment are always made in accordance with international agreements and Russian law."