Not long after the first article was filed, the South African high court backed up the dockworkers with a legal ruling against the arms shipment. (reported in the second article) I certainly hope the dockers in Mozambique will follow suit and also refuse to unload the arms. - CG _________ http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article3772113.ece The Times (of London) Dockers refuse to unload China arms shipment for Zimbabwe April 18, 2008 Philippe Naughton, and Jane Macartney in Beijing South African dockers are refusing to unload a Chinese cargo ship carrying 77 tonnes of small arms destined for Zimbabwe. The arms, including three million rounds of ammunition suitable for AK47s and 1,500 rocket-propelled grenades, were ordered by the Zimbabwean military at the time of the March 29 election ? which Britain and other Western powers have accused Robert Mugabe of trying to rig. The arms arrived at Durban, South Africa, on Wednesday aboard the Chinese-owned An Yue Jiang and must be taken by road to landlocked Zimbabwe, where the Government has been accused of arming rural militias before a possible run-off vote for the presidency. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has even accused Mr Mugabe's Zanu (PF) of preparing for a "war" against the people. January Masilela, the South African Defence Secretary, said yesterday that the shipment had been approved this week by the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC), which he chairs. "This is a normal transaction between two sovereign states and we don't have to interfere," he said. But opposition parties slammed the decision to grant the transit permit and the country's main transport union said that its members would refuse to unload the cargo. ?We do not believe it will be in the interest of the Zimbabwean people in general if South Africa is seen to be a conduit of arms and ammunition into Zimbabwe at a time when the situation could be described as quite volatile,? said Randall Howard, a spokesman for the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU). ?As far as we are concerned the containers will not be offloaded?. Rafeek Shah, defence spokesman for the Democratic Alliance, the main South African opposition party, added: "The world's astonishment at President Mbeki's political defence of Robert Mugabe will likely turn into outright anger as we are now not only denying the existence of a crisis in Zimbabwe, but also actively facilitating the arming of an increasingly despotic and desperate regime." AfriForum, a regional business lobby group, has said that it would organise protests along the shipment's route. The South African Institute of Race Relations said that if the shipment goes ahead, "South Africa's culpability in the Zimbabwe crisis would then be without question." Meanwhile, the South African Government's decision to allow transit of the shipment was the subject of an urgent legal challenge at the Durban High Court. Nicole Fritz, head of the Southern African Litigation Centre, told Times Online that under the 2002 National Convention on Arms Control, which the NCACC monitors, the permit should not have been granted. That law, she said, specifically prohibits the shipment of arms that will "contribute to internal repression". In addition, allowing the arms shipment would violate South Africa's international commitments under a range of agreements including the 1996 Wassenaar Arrangement. "This is a very clear example of a situation in which the committee will be obliged to review a permit," she said, predicting that the High Court would order a stay on the shipment. There have been persistent reports about Chinese arms sales to Zimbabwe, although the details are hard to pin down. Zimbabwe announced in 2006 that it had bought six fighter jets from China, adding to a fleet of six it bought the previous year in a deal believed to be based on barter ? with China obtaining precious mineral raw materials needed in its economic boom. Zimbabwean officials said that the aircraft deal also included the purchase of 100 military vehicles from China to replace existing items that were no longer operational since Western sanctions halted imports of spare parts and maintenance equipment. China?s sales of military hardware are believed to have amounted to more than US$200 million in recent years. There have also been reports that the Chinese have sold water cannons and mobile phone bugging equipment to the security forces in Harare ? although it is not clear whether or not those sales were instigated by companies operating outside the control of central government. Mr Howard, the SATAWU spokesman, said that the An Jue Yiang was carrying 36 containers, 30 of which were equipment for the mining industry in South Africa and Botswana. ?The balance is earmarked for Zimbabwe, four of which have arms and ammunition in them and the other two military aircraft ejector seats," he said. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7354428.stm BBC NEWS 23:17 GMT, Friday, 18 April 2008 Zimbabwe arms ship 'on the move' A Chinese ship carrying arms destined for Zimbabwe is reported to have left the South African port of Durban four days after failing to unload. Earlier, a South African judge ruled that the cargo of rocket-propelled grenades, mortar rounds and ammunition could not be transported overland. Human rights groups had petitioned for a block on the arms and dockers had refused to unload the shipment. Some fear Zimbabwe will use the arms to repress political opposition. The country has yet to publish the results of its presidential election on 29 March, which the MDC opposition says was won outright by its candidate Morgan Tsvangirai. President Robert Mugabe denounced the opposition on Friday in his first speech since the election, saying "thieves" were trying to steal the country. Incommunicado According to the South African news agency Sapa, the ship upped anchor between 1800 (1600 GMT) and 1900 (1700 GMT). The ship's master, who earlier identified himself as Captain Sunaijun, could not be reached by telephone, the agency added, quoting anonymous sources. The transponder aboard the An Yue Jiang was not responding on Friday evening, the BBC's Adam Mynott reports from Durban. The head of an independent human rights group monitoring the vessel said it was heading for Mozambique, en route to landlocked Zimbabwe. Nicole Fritz, director of the Southern Africa Litigation Center, said her group aimed to pursue the issue with Mozambique. Her group had called for the blocking of a permit allowing the arms to be offloaded from the An Yue Jiang and transported. South Africa's government had said it could not legally prevent the arms being transported through the country but the high court in Durban ruled that the cargo could not be moved overland, though it could be discharged in the port. 'Nothing to do with us' The ship contains three million rounds of ammunition for AK-47s, 1,500 rocket- propelled grenades and several thousand mortar rounds, according to South Africa's Mail and Guardian newspaper. The weapons are packed in large red and blue containers piled high on the ship's decks. There are Chinese crew on board and the ship is flying both the Chinese and South African flags, our correspondent said after going to look at the ship anchored 18km (11 miles) from the entrance to Durban harbour. The Mail and Guardian reports that a subsidiary of a state-owned South African company, Armscor, was approached to handle the transport of the weapons after several private companies refused to handle the cargo due to its sensitivity. South African Defence Secretary January Masilela said the country's National Conventional Arms Control Committee had given approval for the transit of the weapons. "If the buyer is the Zimbabwean sovereign government and the seller is the Chinese sovereign government, South Africa has nothing to do with that," he said. Mr Masilela added that there was no United Nations or African Union embargo on weapons sales to Zimbabwe. Speaking in New York, South African President Thabo Mbeki echoed his defence secretary's comments. Several Western countries have banned arms shipments to Zimbabwe, as has the European Union. 'Military regime' With continuing tension in Zimbabwe over the failure of the authorities to issue results from the presidential election three weeks ago, the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) said it would be "grossly irresponsible" to allow the cargo through. "The South African government cannot be seen as propping up a military regime," said Satawu General Secretary Randall Howard. Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said the weapons were not needed because Zimbabwe was not at war. Zimbabwean Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga insisted no country had the right to stop the arms entering his country. For its part, China says the shipment is part of normal trade relations with Zimbabwe, adding that "one of the most important principles is not to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries". ========================================================= *** [==> If you're not part of the solution... you're part of the problem <==] ***