Where is Zim arms ship?
2008-04-21 20:23
Special Report
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, accused of ethnic cleansing and bankrupting his country, has been appointed by the UN to become the new international envoy for tourism, a report says.
Durban - There has been no request by a Chinese ship carrying arms and ammunition destined for Zimbabwe to dock in either of Namibia's two ports, Namibian port authorities said on Monday.
Wessels Feris, acting manager for marketing and strategic business development at Namport, which operates both the ports of Walvis Bay and Luderitz, said: "We have not had any request and there is no indication that she will come here."
The An Yue Jiang left Durban on Friday night moments after the Durban High Court ordered it to dock in Durban and offload its controversial cargo into the custody of the sheriff of Durban.
On Monday afternoon, South African defence ministry spokesperson Themba Gadebe said: "The SA National Defence Force is updated on a regular basis with regard to the ship's movement through its maritime intelligence sources, and we will follow the best legal course of action should we be requested to act against it."
Wang Kun Hu, the managing director of Cosren, said he did not know where the vessel was headed and told Sapa: "The ship has left Durban. We are checking with the owner on the next port of call. We are waiting for the information right now."
Cosren is a subsidiary of the China Ocean Shipping Group Company (Cosco), which owns the An Yue Jiang.
An official at Cosco Africa (Pty) Ltd in Johannesburg said the managing director, only identified as Mr Lin, was in China at a shareholder's meeting.
International boycott
Meanwhile, the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) called for an international boycott of the vessel.
"Cosatu is doing everything possible to alert the international trade union movement to the danger to the workers of Zimbabwe if the cargo is allowed to be unloaded and delivered to Mugabe's forces.
"The federation is writing to its comrades in other federations, including those of Angola and China, to enlist their support for the international workers' boycott," the union said.
SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) secretary general, Randall Howard, also called on trade unions and employers in all African countries to prevent the vessel from docking and to refuse to handle or transport its "lethal cargo".
"We have a moral obligation to provide solidarity that does not allow the Mugabe regime to continue to undermine human and trade union rights with impunity.
"We are not puppets of any imperialist forces as we equally deplore imperialism that undermines the sovereignty of African nation states to determine their own destinies," he said.
Prevented from docking in Maputo
The International Transport Workers Federation (ITF), to which Satawu was affiliated, had already prevented the vessel from docking in Maputo after making an urgent request to the Mozambican government not to allow it to enter the port.
"Satawu wishes to commend the Mozambican government for the correct moral stance they had taken to advance the possibilities of genuine democracy, peace and economic development," the union said.
Satawu had learned that the vessel was en route to Angola to offload the cargo and transport the weapons over land.
"We shall not rest until the weapons destined for Zimbabwe are returned to Beijing. We shall not become an accomplice to the repression and brutality of the Zimbabwean masses who only yearn for peace and genuine democracy," Howard said.
"In the Zimbabwean context, we are happy to be accused of being puppets of genuine democracy underpinned by a culture of respect for human and trade union rights, " said Howard.
Satawu called on Cosatu, the All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU), the ITF and the ITUC to "mobilise" their organisations and their affiliates to ensure that the vessel returned to Beijing.
- SAPA