Arms shipment may be recalled
2008-04-22 11:43
Special Report
A classical music presenter for the BBC has been arrested and is in custody in Zimbabwe.
Beijing - China said on Tuesday a shipment of weapons bound for Zimbabwe might head back after the vessel was unable to unload, but defended the cargo as "perfectly normal trade".
Zambia's president urged regional states on Monday to bar the An Yue Jiang from entering their waters, saying the weapons could deepen Zimbabwe's election crisis. The ship already failed to unload its cargo in South Africa, Mozambique and Angola had denied it access to their ports.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu said the contract for the shipment was signed last year and was "unrelated to recent developments" in Zimbabwe.
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 was now considering shipping the cargo back.
Zimbabwe announced a delay on Sunday in a partial recount of votes in March 29 elections, extending a deadlock in which the opposition said 10 of its members had been killed and hundreds arrested.
Tsvangirai claims victory
The recount could overturn the results of the parliamentary election, which showed the ruling Zanu-PF losing its majority to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) for the first time.
The MDC said its leader Morgan Tsvangirai won presidential elections also held on March 29, and that President Robert Mugabe was attempting to cling to power by delaying the result.
The MDC said in a statement on Tuesday: "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 (for) change."
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.
The ship left South Africa on Friday. Mozambique said on Saturday the vessel would not be allowed into its waters. Angola said on Monday the ship was not welcome there either.
"This ship has not sought a request to enter Angolan territorial waters and it's not authorised to enter Angolan ports," Filomeno Mendonca, director of the Institute of Angolan Ports, told Luanda Radio LAC, a private Angolan radio station.
China was trying to prevent the controversy from fuelling criticism over its human rights record and rule in Tibet ahead of hosting the Olympics in August.
- Reuters