A Chinese ship that was blocked from unloading its cargo in South Africa may return to China because of difficulties at African ports, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said Tuesday. The An Yu Jiang freighter, with more than 3 million rounds of ammunition on board, as well as AK-47 assault rifles and rocket propelled grenade launchers, earlier attempted to dock in South Africa before being turned away has also attempted to unload in Mozambique. It is also believed to have made attempts to unload in Namibia and Angola. But it appears that after pressure from African governments as well as Britain and the US, the ship is returning home. The United States has said it is "pleased no country in the region has allowed the vessel to offload" its cargo of weapons. Deputy U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said the United States had been "tracking this vessel for a few days now, and we don't think it is appropriate for anyone to provide additional weapons in Zimbabwe as they are going through a political crisis" [CNN / BBC]. Earlier British PM Gordon Brown echoed calls by Zambian leader Levy Mwanawasa to stop arms being shipped to Zimbabwe [CNN / BBC].
Meanwhile Robert Mugabe continues to cling to power following a much disputed election. And as the beatings and intimidation of opposition supporters continues in the country the US is putting pressure on Zimbabwe’s neighbours to exert their influence on the Mugabe regime [BBC].
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