All just a 'misunderstanding'

2004-03-10 13:57

Johannesburg - The detention of a plane, and its crew and passengers, in Harare, was all part of a "dreadful misunderstanding," the plane's owner, Logo Logistics, said on Wednesday.

"It is all a dreadful misunderstanding. These things happen very often for reasons that seem very plausible to the authorities at the time," Charles Burrow, a senior executive at Logo said.

The Boeing 727-100 was detained in Harare on Sunday after airport authorities became suspicious of the pilot's reported claim that the plane was only carrying three crew and four cargo handlers.

Sixty-four men, including 20 South Africans, 18 Namibians, 23 Angolans, two DRC citizens and a Zimbabwean travelling on a South African passport were later escorted off the plane.

Burrow insists they are security guards en route to various mining operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The Zimbabwean government and media reports citing intelligence sources have said they were mercenaries on their way to assist another group in overthrowing the government of Equatorial Guinea, a small, oil-rich country along central Africa's west coast.

Burrows said that what some have described as military items aboard is mining equipment.

Burrow said the aircraft had been scheduled to fly the men to the DRC with stops at Polokwane, Harare and Bujumbura, in Burundi.

"At the time it had seemed a good idea and cheaper to put guys (and cargo) for three or four projects on same plane."

Asked what the company was doing to secure the release of the men, he said they were working closely with the department of foreign affairs and had provided them a list of passengers and crew on Monday.

"We are very much in touch with the South African government, he said. "I can't praise them too highly. They are dealing with the matter with energy and despatch. I'm very hopeful the matter will be dealt with very rapidly and have every confidence we'll have the guys back at their homes soon."

However, earlier on Wednesday the department said its officials were still awaiting details on the identity of the South Africans.

Spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said once their names were known, consular services would be offered and their families informed.

Speaking to the media after arriving home from India, Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said she was in contact with the Zimbabwean and Equatorial Guinea governments regarding the South Africans held in both countries.

Equatorial Guinea's Information Minister Agustin Nse Nfumu said on Tuesday his government had detained 15 suspected mercenaries, and declared they were an "advance party" for the group of 64 on board the impounded aircraft.

He said the leader of the group, a white South African called "Mick", had confessed to a plot to kill the president.

Zimbabwean Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge said the men could face the death penalty.

- SAPA