Lebanon doubts Ukraine claim of stolen grain on Syrian ship

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon appeared Friday to reject claims by the Ukrainian Embassy in Beirut that a Syrian ship docked in a Lebanese port is carrying Ukrainian grain stolen by Russia, following an inspection by Lebanese customs officials.

A senior Lebanese customs official told The Associated Press that there was “nothing wrong" with the cargo of the Laodicea, which docked in the Lebanese port of Tripoli on Thursday, and that its papers were in order. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

The controversy surrounding the ship has underscored how Lebanon, a tiny Mediterranean country bordering Syria, has been in the crosshairs of Russia’s months-long war in Ukraine.

The Laodicea is carrying 5,000 tons of flour and 5,000 tons of barley that Ukraine's Embassy in Beirut says was illegally taken by Russia. After the embassy raised the alarm, Lebanese authorities initiated an investigation.

The Russian Embassy, meanwhile, has told Lebanese media that the Ukrainian claim was “baseless.”

The U.S. Department of the Treasury had sanctioned the Laodicea in 2015 for its affiliation with the Syrian government of President Bashar Assad.

According to the Ukrainian Embassy, the Laodicea is among scores of vessels that Kyiv alleges transported grain stolen by Russia. An embassy statement Friday said the ship had turned off its AIS tracking system in the Black Sea for 10 days, after docking earlier this month in Russia-controlled Crimea's port of Feodosia.

There, the embassy said, it was “loaded with barley and wheat flour illegally exported from the territories of Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv and Kherson” in Ukraine — areas taken by Russia in the war.

Marine Traffic, which monitors vessel traffic and location of ships on seas, said the...