WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2008-04-20 Time: 00:00:00 Posted By: Jan
By Charles Mangwiro
Maputo – A Chinese ship carrying arms to Zimbabwe, turned away from South Africa, is heading to Angola in the hope of being allowed to dock there, the transport minister of Mozambique said on Saturday.
The ship left South African waters on Friday after a court refused to allow the weapons to be transported across South Africa.
Paulo Zucula, Mozambique’s transport and communications minister, said that Mozambique had been monitoring the movements of the ship since it lifted anchor and left South Africa.
| ‘One wonders what really is going on’ |
“We know that it registered its next destination as Luanda because here we wouldn’t allow it into Mozambican waters without prior arrangements,” he said.
The An Yue Jiang had been at anchor off Durban since Monday and quickly became a flashpoint for trade unions and others critical of President Thabo Mbeki’s “quiet diplomacy” on Zimbabwe.
The 300 000-strong South African Transport and Allied Workers Union refused to unload the weapons because of concerns that President Robert Mugabe’s government would use them against opponents in the post-election stalemate.
A South African government spokesperson confirmed that weapons were aboard the ship but said the government would not interfere with what it regarded as a trade matter between China and Zimbabwe.
Bright Matonga, Zimbabwe’s deputy information minister, said no party had the right to stop the shipment.
| ‘This vessel must return to China with the arms on board’ |
“Every country has got a right to acquire arms. There is nothing wrong with that. If they are for Zimbabwe, they will definitely come to Zimbabwe,” he told SAfm radio.
“How they are used, when they are going to be used, is none of anybody’s business.”
China is trying to prevent the controversy from fuelling further worldwide criticism over its human rights record, and its invasion and occupation of Tibet.
China is to host the Olympic Games in August. Protests have followed the Olympic torch across the globe.
China’s foreign ministry said: “China and Zimbabwe maintain normal trade relations. China has always had a prudent and responsible attitude towards arms sales, and one of the most important principles is not to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries.”
Nicole Fritz, the director of the Southern Africa Litigation Centre, which asked the Durban High Court to intervene to stop the arms from being transported to Zimbabwe, said the centre would consider pursuing the matter through litigation or international diplomatic channels.
She said countries had “specific legal obligations” to prevent the movement of arms to nations where there were concerns about “systematic human rights violations and violations of fundamental freedoms”.
Fritz’s organisation had raised concerns that the ship’s cargo of thousands of mortar grenades and bullets was headed for Zimbabwe, from where there have been increasing accounts of widespread attacks on the country’s civilian population by government forces.
Anglican bishop Rubin Phillip, one of the applicants in the court case, said it was clear that those involved with the ship wanted to avoid a legal battle.
“One wonders what really is going on,” he said. “It would be a travesty if another African country allowed the shipment to take place. It would be a slap in the face to the ordinary people of Zimbabwe.”
Fritz said the Durban High Court granted the order for the ship’s conveyance permit to be suspended and that there could be no movement of the containers in which the arms were packed and no movement of the ship.
But lawyers were told by the sheriff of the high court that when an attempt to serve the order on the ship was made it was found that it had put to sea.
“It was called back but made no acknowledgment of the order,” the sheriff said.
On Friday, South African port and truck workers said they would refuse to offload the weapons for transshipment.
“This vessel must return to China with the arms on board. South Africa cannot be seen to be facilitating the flow of weapons into Zimbabwe at a time when there is a political dispute and a volatile situation,” Cosatu said.
It reiterated its calls for Zimbabwean electoral officials to release the results of the March 29 presidential elections.
China is one of Zimbabwe’s main trading partners and allies.
A day earlier, Themba Maseko, the South African government spokesperson, said officials would not intervene to stop the arms shipment from reaching Zimbabwe provided its manifests and other papers were in order. – Reuters