BEIRUT, Lebanon, Jan 13, 2004 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- Paying condolences to Lebanon for a West African plane crash that killed at least 130 people, Benin's foreign minister pleaded for patience Tuesday, telling reporters the investigation would determine if the accident was caused by human or technical failure.

A Lebanese Boeing 727 hit a building shortly after taking off from Benin's Cotonou airport on Dec. 25 and plunged into the Atlantic Ocean just off the beach. Most of the victims were Lebanese. More than 20 of the 161 people on board, including the pilot, survived.

On Monday, Lebanese Prosecutor-General Adnan Addoum sent a message to Interpol saying that the plane's owner, Darwish Ahmed Khazem, who is under arrest in the West African state of Guinea, is wanted for questioning in Lebanon.

Lebanon's Transportation Minister Najib Mikati has said that analysis of the plane's flight data recorders, or black boxes, showed the crash was caused by overloading. Mikati said the cockpit voice recorder showed the pilot told Khazem that the plane could not take off because of the excessive load.

"Put your faith in God. When we arrive in Lebanon, we will tell them we will not overload again," Mikati quoted Khazem as replying to the pilot. Khazem lost his wife and son on the Union des Transports Africains plane.

On Tuesday, Benin's Foreign Minister Rogatien Biaou met Lebanese President Emile Lahoud to pay his country's condolences for the victims of the crash.

Biaou told reporters afterward that the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder are being examined in France. He added that the jet's Libyan pilot is being questioned by Benin authorities.

Biaou said the plane's two technicians, a Libyan and a Peruvian, are also in Benin and would not be able to leave the country until the investigation is complete.

Lebanese newspapers have reported the investigation should be finished by the end of the month.

"We are still collecting all needed factors and details that will allow us to carry out a deep analysis of the accident and know if it was caused by human error or technical problem," Biaou told reporters.

By BASSEM MROUE Associated Press Writer