1.   Citing his authority as an official of the Albanian government, he ordered the Italians to release the seized boats.

2.   But five rounds of talks between local authorities have stalled over the return of the seized boats and cargo and the fate of missing Laotian boatmen.

3.   Israel says the seized boat was loaded with Iranian arms and argues this reflects increasingly close coordination between Iran and the Palestinian Authority.

4.   The seized boats, along with an onboard helicopter, were held for four months in order to identify their owners, Dreno maintained.

5.   Meanwhile most of the non-French Greenpeace activists on board the seized boats were being expelled from French Polynesia, officials said.