Guinea's government has released a shipment of arms bound for Mali which had been blocked because of insecurity in its landlocked neighbour.
The Islamist groups and Tuareg rebels have taken control of northern Mali following a coup in March.
The regional bloc Economic community of west african states (Ecowas), which has been mediating the crisis, inspected the cargo and advised Guinea to release it to Mali's new unity government.
The Arms Made in Bulgaria reportedly include armoured personnel carriers.
According to the BBC's Alhassan Sillah in Guinea's capital, Conakry, says news of the blocked shipment came out in August - and no official details have been given about what it contains.
There have been a series of delegations in the city from Mali and Ecowas to try and decide what to do about it, he says
A new unity government was formed in Mali in August in an attempt to restore stability and over the weekend the UN Security Council adopted a resolution paving the way for military intervention to retake the north.
Both Mali's government and Ecowas have made requests for authorisation for an international force to intervene, with Ecowas proposing a force of 3,000.
But the UN has so far refused to endorse requests for military intervention without details of a plan.
Earlier this week, Guinea expelled about 26 Malians suspected of having links to Mali's Islamists.
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