Friday - April 25, 2008

The Rumors Were Correct

This is an update to a post that’s been ongoing for a week or so. Zimbabwe’s tinpot dictator, Robert Mugabe, has ordered a large arms shipment from China. Millions of rounds of 7.62x39, RPGs, and mortars. It has been delayed by dockworkers in South Africa who refused to unload it. Coincidentaly, the election results in Zimbabwe have still not been released, and Mugabe is rumored to have lost hugely. The ship, the An Yue Jian, left South Africa the other day with the message “next stop Mozambique”. This was a ruse, obviously. The ship has now docked in Angola, which is on the other side of the continent.

Angola’s government has authorised a Chinese ship carrying arms destined for Zimbabwe to dock, although it says it will not be allowed to unload weapons.  In a statement, the government said the vessel would only be allowed to deliver goods intended for Angola.  On Thursday, the Chinese authorities said they would recall the ship to China after port workers in South Africa refused to unload the weapons.  Other southern African countries had also refused to allow the ship to dock. Leaders in the region had expressed concern that the weapons could heighten tensions in Zimbabwe.
...
The state news agency, Angop, said the ship, the An Yue Jiang, had been authorised to dock in the capital Luanda.  But it can only unload “merchandise destined for Angola”, a government statement said.
Angola is a close ally of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.

On Thursday, a Chinese foreign ministry official said the ship, which reportedly contains three million rounds of ammunition, 1,500 rocket-propelled grenades and 2,500 mortar rounds, might return to China.

The US had urged China to recall the An Yue Jiang, while the UK called for an international arms embargo on Zimbabwe.  Zambia’s president urged African countries not to let the arms in. But Zimbabwe’s state-run Herald newspaper condemned the country’s neighbours as “myopic stooges” for refusing to let the cargo dock.

“Zimbabwe is… under attack from the former coloniser and its allies. As such, Zimbabwe probably needs to arm itself more than any other country in Africa today,” the paper said.

This news seems to contradict another story that came out today that said the ship was going to be recalled. Somebody isn’t telling the truth!

So they’ll only let in things destined for Angola huh? That’s really interesting, because the manifest mentioned the other day didn’t include any cargo for Angola. Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Botswana, but no mention of Angola. This smells rotten. Maybe “only cargo destined for Angola” means they bought the arms and will just resell them to Mugabe (at a minor 200% markup of course)? And it’s damned funny that the election results are still being kept secret.

Stay tuned to the story folks, there’s going to be a bloodbath in Zimbabwe in another week or so.

Posted by Drew458     on 04/25/2008 at 08:57 PM   
Filed Under: • Africa •  
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