China may recall Zimbabwe arms ship

China may recall Zimbabwe arms ship

DOOMED: The Chinese ship carrying Zimbabwean arms has attracted world attention after failing to unload its cargo in South Africa last week

• Zambia calls on African countries to repel Chinese ship

• US bids to block Chinese ship from unloading

• Chinese weapons ship sails to Mozambique

• SA union refuses to unload arms shipment

• Chinese vessel carrying Zim arms docks in Durban

• Chinese vessel delivering arms to Zimbabwe - claim

• Karoi army 'war' drill raises crackdown fears

• Zimbabwe's security chiefs issue threats on election eve

• Army threatens coup if Mugabe loses

• Civil servants strike looms as soldiers get windfall

• Police ask for more time in coup plot trial

• Kidnappers seize army commander's baby

• Zim prosecutors 'not ready' for coup trial

• New wheels for army, police bosses

• 'Coup plotters' have case to answer - court

• Mugabe hails army loyalty

• Chiwengwa's wife threatens to sue for US$1 billion

• Tsvangirai flees Chiwenga's wife, journalist attacked

• CIO launched raid on Mnangagwa's office

• Judge makes U-turn on open trial

• Zimbabwe 'coup plotters' back in court

• Judge orders coup plot trial in open court

• Zim 'coup plotters' charged with treason

• Zimbabwe soldiers could starve in weeks, MPs told

• Air Force commander 'poisoned'

• Mugabe's guards in open rebellion

• US government sponsored Zim army

• Army blows US$1,3 million on new vehicles

• 40 'possessed students' withdrawn after Shiri visit

• Herald makes apology over Shiri story

• Zimbabwe splashes on new Chinese K-8 jets

CHINA has defended a shipment of weapons headed for Zimbabwe as "perfectly normal trade" but said it may be heading back because the ship was unable to unload.

Zambia's president urged regional states yesterday to bar the An Yue Jiang from entering their waters, saying the weapons could deepen Zimbabwe's election crisis.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said the contract for the shipment was signed last year and was "unrelated to recent developments" in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe announced a delay on Sunday in a partial recount of votes in March 29 parliamentary elections, extending a deadlock in which the opposition says 10 of its members have been killed and hundreds arrested.

The opposition says its leader Morgan Tsvangirai won presidential elections also held on March 29, and that President Robert Mugabe is attempting to cling to power by delaying declaring the result.

Ms Jiang said the arms shipment was "perfectly normal trade in military goods between China and Zimbabwe", but because it was impossible for Zimbabwe to receive the goods, the company involved is now considering shipping the cargo back.

The 300,000-strong South African Transport and Allied Workers Union refused to unload the weapons because of concerns Mugabe's government might use them against opponents in the post-election stalemate.

Mozambique did not allow it to enter its waters.

For its part, China is trying to prevent the controversy from fuelling criticism over its human rights record and rule in Tibet ahead of hosting the Olympics in August.

Sometimes-violent protests have followed the Olympic torch across the globe.

The US government said Monday that it was intervening with governments in southern Africa to prevent the Chinese ship from unloading its cargo.

At the same time, the State Department's top Africa hand, Jendayi Frazer, plans to visit the region this week to underscore U.S. concerns about the shipment.

Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said the weapons were clearly intended to be used to "butcher" innocent Zimbabweans.

"Those weapons were not going to be used on mosquitoes, but (were) clearly meant to butcher innocent civilians whose only crime is rejecting dictatorship and voting change, and change they can trust," the MDC said in a statement ahead of talks with the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu).

In those discussions, it would convey its "appreciation" of the refusal by the Cosatu-affiliated SA Transport Workers' Union to be party to the movement of the weapons to landlocked Zimbabwe from the port of Durban, it said. - Reuters/Staff Reporter

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