A Kenyan minister has denied BBC reports that the tanks seized by Somali pirates were bound for South Sudan.
According to the cargo's manifest, obtained by the BBC, the contract included the phrase "GOSS", widely used to mean the Government of South Sudan.
But Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula said it meant General Ordinance Supplies and Security and that this was a code for the department of defence.
The Ukrainian ship carrying the tanks is still moored off the Somali coast.
The MV Faina is surrounded by warships from the US, Russia and other countries.
Last week, the Somali government said the ship's owners were involved in direct negotiations with the pirates, who are demanding a $20m (Ј11m) ransom.
Kenya has always insisted that the military hardware was destined for its army.
But various military and diplomatic sources say it was being passed on to South Sudan.
The BBC's Karen Allen in Nairobi says that although the import of military hardware to Sudan is not illegal, if the weapons were being passed on, it would put Kenya in a tight spot diplomatically because it was Kenya which helped broker an end to the civil war between South Sudan and the government in Khartoum in 2005.
But Francis Nazario, head of South Sudan's mission in Brussels, said he had seen the manifest and it did not prove anything.
"What I know is that we have nothing at all to do with the content of this ship, and the ship was not heading for South Sudan," he told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.
"I think if there was anything like that we would not hide it because constitutionally we have the right to do so, to bring arms from anywhere."
Military balance
Meanwhile, a Kenyan court has granted bail to Andrew Mwangura, a spokesman for the Kenyan chapter of the Seafarers Assistance Programme, who had been arrested after he said the tanks were bound for South Sudan.
Mr Mwangura was charged with making alarming statements and illegal possession of marijuana.
However, he has not yet raised the 200,000 shillings, ($2,700) and so he is still in custody.
Last week, Western military experts told the BBC that the tanks on board the MV Faina were going to Sudan and that the shipment indicated an arms race between North and South Sudan had begun.
They are reported to both be building up their forces ahead of a referendum on independence for the South in 2011.
The military experts, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a previous delivery of tanks had taken place last November.
(BBC)
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