ZIMBABWE:A CHINESE-OWNED freighter carrying weapons destined for Zimbabwe may return to China following the apparent refusal of four southern African countries to facilitate the cargo's delivery.
The An Yue Jiangwas heading towards Angola along southern Africa's west coast to unload its cargo after running into major obstacles in Mozambique and South Africa, where it first stopped.
After spending four days early last week in Durban port waiting to unload its munitions and weapons, dock workers decided not to handle the freight, and a South African judge barred its transportation across land to the border separating the countries.
The ship then set out towards Mozambique on Friday night, but was refused entry on Saturday and subsequently turned back towards Angola, a country traditionally sympathetic to Zimbabwe's ruling regime, to unload via a fuel stop in Namibia.
But that is no longer the plan, according to Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu, who told reporters yesterday: "As far as I know, the carrier is now considering carrying back the cargo."
Ms Jiang offered no explanation as to why the Chinese government had decided against delivering the weapons, but insisted the shipment had constituted a "normal military product trade between the two countries".
There is no international arms embargo against Zimbabwe and China is one of the country's main trading partners. But the move indicates an about-turn by China in the face of growing international pressure on Zimbabwe's neighbours not to allow offloading and movement of the weapons through their territories.
Fears that Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe is prepared to use massive violence against voters, ahead of a potential second-round presidential runoff against Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai, have grown since the disputed March election.
Human rights groups and the MDC say state-sponsored violence has already led to 10 fatalities and hundreds of injuries.
Moreover they added that a weapons delivery at this time would destabilise the situation further.
The US State Department has asked the four coastal countries involved not to facilitate the cargo's delivery, and it has also asked the Chinese government not to supply weapons to Zimbabwe under the circumstances.