Still no clarity on aircraft
2004-03-09 17:48
Johannesburg, Harare - Pretoria on Tuesday confirmed that South Africans were among the 64 suspected mercenaries travelling on an aircraft impounded in Zimbabwe on Sunday.
But the exact origin of the Boeing registered in the United States, its cargo, the fate of the 64 people it was carrying and its destination at the time it was forced to land, remained a mystery.
Conflicting reports in on Tuesday fuelled speculation in the case about which the Zimbabwean government has kept silent since Sunday night.
A South African firm claiming to have chartered the Boeing 727 said it had been transporting mine security workers and equipment to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Separate radio reports from Equatorial Guinea, said the government had detained suspected mercenaries from South Africa, Angola, Germany, Armenia and Kazakhstan.
It was earlier speculated that the Boeing may have been en route to Equatorial Guinea to assist in a coup attempt.
The aircraft, took off, apparently illegally from the Waterkloof airbase, flew directly out of the country and was forced to land in Harare by Zimbabwe's air force, according to media reports on Tuesday.
Zimbabwe television on Monday screened images of the white jet with the US registration N4610 on its tail. Zimbabwe's home affairs minister declared that the Boeing had been detained at Harare airport after its crew made a false declaration of its cargo and crew.
The jet had been carrying 64 suspected mercenaries of various nationalities and its cargo was of a military nature, he said.
Images of new uniforms, boots, compasses, bolt cutters, sledge hammers, satellite loudhailers and walkie-talkie radios, but no weapons were shown on television. The equipment could be used by commandos and special missions, according to the broadcast.
"We don't think this was an attempt to dot (kill) Mugabe. We think they were just passing through, probably to one of the well-known island trouble spots," an unnamed US official told The Star.
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe accuses the United States and Britain of trying to effect "regime change" and of plotting to oust him and to "recolonise" the country.
Other reports speculated about a link between the aircraft and a planned coup in Equatorial Guinea.
The South African government began looking into reports that South Africans were among the detained suspects on Monday. - Sapa-dpa
- SAPA