Lebanese customs authorities stopped a suspicious-looking car in the Mount Lebanon region east of the country's capital on Saturday and seized weapons and ammunition found inside, the customs department said in a statement.

The customs officers, known to patrol the main artery to the east of Beirut, stopped the French-made Renault 12 vehicle in Bhamdoun, a town in the mountains overlooking Beirut shortly before noon, the statement said.

It was later reported  that the weapons belong to the Syrian National Socialist party (SNSP), an an ally of Damascus. Admitting to being a member of the party, the car driver was also arrested, police sources said.

They said the weapons included 25 new brand, Russian-made Kalashnikov machine guns and six cases of munitions as well as clips.

They said the driver confessed that the supplies belonged to the SNSP and that he was instructed to carry them from east Lebanon's Bekaa valley to Beirut.

They did not say what had made the car look suspicious, nor whether it was traveling to or from the Lebanese capital. The highway links Beirut with the eastern Bekaa Valley.

Last December, police seized explosives, fuses and detonators in house raids that resulted in the arrest of seven SSNP members and an explosives expert had said such weapons were designed for "terrorist attacks and assassinations. -Agencies