MOSCOW. Jan 14 (Interfax) - Russia stands for the quickest possible investigation of an incident late in December in which Israel seized a ship in the Red Sea loaded with weapons to be smuggled into the Palestinian self-ruled territory, a senior official said on Monday. "It is necessary now to find out the truth about the ship which was carrying weapons to be smuggled, and punish those guilty," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Saltanov told Interfax. The ambiguity of the case is "an obstacle to the resumption of efforts to launch the Tenet-Mitchell plan. It is in this key that we are conducting a dialogue with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders." After Israel seized the ship, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon demanded the arrest of the Palestinian officials who, the Israelis claim, were behind the attempt to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip. He threatened to keep Yasser Arafat stranded in Ramallah, in the West Bank, until the Palestinian leader has fulfilled this and other conditions. "If Arafat fails to fulfill them he will be there [in Ramallah] for as long as I remain prime minister," Sharon warned.