A Russian ship suspected of carrying munitions for Damascus arrived in the Syrian port of Tartus on "January 11 or 12," shipping expert Mikhail Voitenko told Agence France Presse Saturday.

"The ship Chariot arrived at Tartus on January 11 or 12," said Voitenko, basing his conclusions on an examination of data from the vessel's automatic identification system (AIS) transponder.

A leader of Russia's liberal opposition was arrested Saturday at a protest rally against fraud-tainted parliamentary polls as Vladimir Putin seeks a third Kremlin term in the face of attacks on his 12-year rule.

Sergei Mitrokhin, a leader of the Yabloko party which called the rally, was arrested at the end of the protest attended by some 300 people and was now facing a fine or a 15-day jail term, a party spokesman told Agence France Presse.

A villager in provincial Russia has caused a national scandal after finding 79 Kalashnikov assault rifles in crates that he bought to use as firewood, Russian media reported on Friday.

A truck driver was supposed to take the crates for disposal from the factory in the central city of Izhevsk where Kalashnikovs are manufactured, but instead sold them to the unnamed villager, thinking they were empty.

The United States said Friday it has raised concerns with Russia and Cyprus over a Russian ship suspected of carrying munitions to Syria.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said "we have raised our concerns about this, both with Russia and with Cyprus, which was the last port of call for the ship."

Russia's departing ambassador to NATO warned the West on Friday against any foreign intervention in Syria, saying that the Arab Spring was already bringing Islamic fundamentalists to power.

"I believe that any foreign influence, pressure on a country such as Syria will inevitably lead to a catastrophe," Dmitry Rogozin, who was named vice prime minister in charge of the defense industry last month, told reporters.

U.S. auto giant General Motors will invest $1 billion (778 million euros) in Russia over five years to more than double production by 2015, the managing director of its Russian operations said.

"The reason we are there is we see opportunity," James Bovenzi said late Thursday at a dinner event organized by the U.S.-Russia Business Council on the sidelines of the Detroit auto show.

A Russian ship, allegedly carrying tons of weapons, made a dash for Syria after Cypriot officials allowed it to leave their waters, Turkish officials said Thursday.

The ship had made an unscheduled stop in Cyprus Tuesday, technically violating an EU embargo on arms shipments to Syria, which has killed thousands in a crackdown on dissent.

Russia said on Friday it strongly disagreed with changes to its draft U.N. Security Council resolution on Syria that are being promoted by Western states.

"Unfortunately, the West's approach radically differs from ours," Deputy Foreign Minister Gannady Gatilov was quoted as saying by Interfax.

New sanctions against Iran will be perceived by the world community as an attempt at changing the regime in the Islamic republic, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Gannady Gatilov said on Friday.

"Additional sanctions against Iran, as well as potentially any military strikes against it, will unquestionably be perceived by the international community as an attempt at changing the regime in Iran," Gatilov was quoted as saying by Interfax.

Russian Security Council secretary Nikolai Patrushev warned that military escalation is likely in Iran, with "real danger" of a U.S. strike, in an interview published Thursday.

He added that Syria, which has refused to break its ties with Tehran, could also be a target for Western intervention.