New consignment of arms to be flown in; apparently due to arrive within the next week
This has been added to our action post as an update, but the news is alarming enough to warrant its own post:
Just reported on news24.com:
According to Beeld’s sources, the meeting took place because the generals apparently were worried that any further delays would run the delivery of the really big guns into the ground.
The Zimbabwean military’s operational planning could also suffer as a result.
Both orders were apparently placed only weeks ago. The paperwork for the ship carrying the weapons, the An Yue Jiang, was finalised in Beijing on April 1 - three days after the Zimbabwean elections.
The step to rather use an aircraft apparently was taken to keep the nature and extent of the load secret from the outside world.
“There is no way that anyone is going to determine what will be delivered,” said Beeld’s source.
“What is known is that the kind of weaponry which is manufactured in Shenzhen, in the second consignment, is highly sophisticated and not just the kind of basic mortars and ammunition that’s on the ship,” said Beeld’s source.
Shenzhen, in Guangdong province, is one of China’s core industrial manufacturing cities.
Earlier updates archived at this link
April 22nd, 2008 01:07
What did McGiver say? Every action has an opposite and equal reaction.
We act, they react. They react, we act!
While the shippers are finding the An Yue Jiang, we need to find the aviators.
Flying arms to Zimbabwe takes planes. Planes have to fly through national airspace and they need to refuel. It is unlikely a transport plane can fly non-stop from Beijing to Harare. After all Air Zim stops at Singapore on the way to Beijing.
Aviation specialists - we need you! And this is something Zim is good at. All these long haul companies we have that fly in-and-out of the roughest corners of the world. How will China fly weapons to Harare? How can we make that a real loss-making proposition?
And military guys, would any one else sell weapons to Mugabe?
Bankers - how is all this being paid for? Who is processing these payments?
And PS Chinese Military Advisers inside Zimbabwe need food. They have their clothes washed. Zimbabweans are getting close to them every day. Find out what you can! They will talk in front of you without thinking. I know they speak Mandarin but get their names, who likes whom, who they meet, how they pay their bills, and so on and so on. God is in the details!
April 22nd, 2008 07:05
[...] This is Zimbabwe » Blog Archive » New consignment of arms to be flown in; apparently due to arrive… [...]
April 22nd, 2008 08:14
[...] The Bush administration intends to send a special envoy to the region this week. There are reports that a new consignment of arms will now be delivered by air [...]
April 22nd, 2008 08:55
[...] Rumors from Harare is that there will now be an attempt to air freight weapons from China to Zimbabwe. Will aviators join shippers and longshoremen to stop the shipment? [...]
April 22nd, 2008 10:39
So the pressure to try and find the ship has made Bob consider air has it? Well there are some long haul air freighters Russian built that easily flew to Uganda and back to supply the rebels in the north.
It is time for the oppresed Zims people to take some action. As Sctchcart suggests the Chinese military in Zim need food, clothes etc right! So get your ears to the ground and potion in their meals. It is hard to make good decisions when you have to spend all day on the toilet Eh!
Let’s try and make contact with the bush pilots they often pick up good news. I know that Tanzania has refueled miltary planes before for Bob’s tin pot army.
Keep up the pressure and email the world everyone, I am sure something will come out of this bad sitation with God’s help.
April 22nd, 2008 13:32
Email addresses for Human Rights organisations that have China campaigns: Human rights Watch, amnesty and Human Rights in China:
hrwnyc@hrw.org, hrwuk@hrw.org, hrwpress@hrw.org, activism@amnesty.org.uk, hrichina@hrichina.org, hrichk@hrichina.org, hriceu@hrichina.org,
April 22nd, 2008 13:33
Anyone in the US? Could you phone Human rights in China:
HRIC Head Office
350 Fifth Avenue, Suite 3311
New York, NY 10118 USA
Tel: +1 212-239-4495
Fax: +1 212-239-2561
hrichina@hrichina.org
April 22nd, 2008 13:51
another Human Rights Organisation:
info@forum-asia.org
April 22nd, 2008 16:09
Found this: E-mail Chinese Embassy in London
http://actsa.org/page-1339-StopweaponsreachingZimbabwe.html
We cannot allow this shipment to reach Zimbabwe and be used to continue the violence and human rights violations against the Zimbabwean people. Join ACTSA and civil society organisations from across southern Africa to call on the Chinese government to recall the shipment. Click here to protest to the Chinese Embassy in London
April 22nd, 2008 17:01
It would be brilliant for Zimbabweans write and thank SADC,AU governments,the EU,US and general civic Society etc for their contributions in this struggle for peace as soon as news comes out of any concrete efforts they have madeor and help rendered to the peace process.
Some more news:
Zim arms ship due in Walvis Bay today
The Namibian
Tuesday, April 22, 2008 - Web posted at 7:37:08 GMT
CHRISTOF MALETSKY
A CHINESE ship carrying six containers of ammunition for Zimbabwe has
applied to take on fuel at Walvis Bay this morning.
The An Yue Jiang is carrying three million rounds of AK-47 ammunition,
1 500 rocket-propelled grenades and more than 3 000 mortar rounds and mortar
tubes.
Attempts to get comment from Government yesterday were unsuccessful.
Messages were left for Minister of Information, Joel Kaapanda, but he
had not returned them by the time of going to press.
Yesterday, the Legal Assistance Centre said it would approach the High
Court to stop the ship from entering Namibia at Walvis Bay.
Interviewed on One Africa TV News last night, Kaapanda said he didn’t
know anything about the ship.
He said if it docked at Walvis Bay, Government would consider “any
appropriate measures”, but did not elaborate.
The Minister said he wondered why such a big deal was being made about
the ship.
The vessel is carrying a lethal cargo.
He noted that Zimbabwe was a landlocked country and often used Walvis
Bay.
“I don’t understand why this ship is so special,” he said.
The LAC called on all concerned citizens in Namibia to raise their
voice against the An Yue Jiang docking in a Namibian harbour.
The ship left the South African port of Durban last week after
dockworkers refused to unload the shipment and the Durban High Court barred
its cargo from being transported to landlocked Zimbabwe.
The LAC’s partners in South Africa - the Southern African Litigation
Centre and the International Action Network on Small Arms - obtained a court
order that the weapons could not be transported through South Africa.
The vessel is now reported to be heading to either Walvis Bay or
Luanda in Angola.
“Our concern is that Zimbabwe is a nation that has been in an
escalating state of crisis,” said Norman Tjombe, Director of the LAC.
“To allow more weapons to enter Zimbabwe will only fuel more violence,
with the serious consequence of more deaths and suffering.”
The escalating violation and suppression of human rights in Zimbabwe
was exacerbated by last month’s disputed elections, of which the results
have yet to be announced, he said.
“Namibia, and its institutions, such as the Namibia Ports Authority,
has obligations under national and international law to foster international
peace and the peaceful resolutions of disputes, and the responsibility and
accountability in the regulation and control of the trade in conventional
arms,” said Tjombe.
He said in terms of the Namibian Constitution, the Namibian State is
obligated to promote international co-operation, peace and security and
foster respect for international law and treaty obligations.
Namibia was also a signatory to several other international treaties,
such as SADC Firearms Protocol, Protocol on Politics, Defence and Security,
and the UN Programme of Action on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light
Weapons in All Its Aspects, which would all be violated if it allowed arms
to enter Zimbabwe, he said.
“In the light of these obligations, it will be prudent for the Namibia
Ports Authority not to allow the offloading of the deadly cargo of the An
Yue Jiang vessel if and when the vessel calls on any port in Namibia,”
Tjombe said.
If the ship was allowed to offload and transport overland in Namibia,
he said, the LAC would approach the courts.
“We nonetheless trust that Namibia would adhere to its obligations
under the Constitution and international law, without the need for us to
approach the High Court of Namibia,” Tjombe said.
Transport workers in Africa were also called on to help prevent the
shipment from reaching Zimbabwe.
The International Transport Workers Federation said its member trade
unions and the International Trade Union Confederation must stop what it
calls the “dangerous and destabilising shipment.”
The International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) has also
appealed to the governments of SADC, especially Namibia, Angola and
Mozambique, to prevent the arms cargo from reaching its destination.
Trade unionists in the South African transport industry also announced
a boycott of the cargo.
IANSA wants the weaponry detained until Zimbabwe can prove it will not
be misused to suppress the Zimbabwean people.
“We remind all southern African countries, including neighbouring
Namibia and Mozambique, that they have ratified the Southern African
Development Community 2004 Firearms Protocol,” said IANSA communications
officer, Louise Rimmer.
“The Protocol explicitly states that all Southern African states
should harmonise their arms control laws to prevent conflict in the region
and destabilising accumulations of arms.
South African and international law has been used to prevent the
transportation of these arms to Zimbabwe across South Africa, so other SADC
authorities must stop it too.”
Opponents claim that it is highly likely that the weapons will be used
to fuel violence, killings and intimidation in Zimbabwe’s growing political
crisis.
The six containers were initially shipped to Durban by the Chinese
government-controlled conglomerate Poly Technologies for onward transport to
Harare.
It is now trying to find another dock to unload its weapons and
transport them to landlocked Zimbabwe.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has also called on
African governments and port authorities to deny entry to the vessel.
“This is just the beginning of the campaign; the fight is however not
yet over, as the ship heads in the direction of Angola.
Cosatu is doing everything possible to alert African transport workers
in both the maritime and road freight industries not to allow the vessel to
dock nor to handle or transport its cargo,” Cosatu National Spokesperson
Patrick Craven told a press conference in Johannesburg yesterday.
Craven said Africa governments and international trade union movements
should know the danger to the workers of Zimbabwe if the cargo was allowed
to be unloaded and delivered to Mugabe’s forces.
Cosatu reiterated that Africa could not be seen to be facilitating the
flow of weapons to Zimbabwe which is in the grip of a tense electoral
dispute.
April 22nd, 2008 17:13
This is from the Wikipedia write up about Poly:
___________
Poly has established business relations with hundreds of enterprises and governmental organizations of nearly 100 countries and regions, including many world famous multinational corporations such as Boeing of the United States, Bombardier, Inc. of Canada, Chevron - Texaco of the United States, Benz of Germany, Ferrari of Italy, State Corporation ‘Rosoboronexport’ and Japanese Sagawa Logistic Co., Ltd. It has also established cooperative relations with domestic government departments and many noted companies.
________________
I suggest we start contacting these multi-million dollar enterprises who deal with this company and let them know what their ’supplier’ is up to.
April 22nd, 2008 17:59
I was worried this may happen. Are we sure about the use of airfreight? It is very expensive. My estimate is that the extra cost of airfreight versus sea freight is an additional USD 500,000. Zim is very short of USD so lets try & verify the airfreight info.
Re the sea cargo i am still trying all my contacts but nothing new.
Usually Zim buys weapons from its neighbours. In the past Angola and Zambia + others. I think they may resort to this route, so we need to watch for it. Alert SADC that weapons must not be supplied. In fact SADC should not let weapons pass through any of their territories onward to Zim.
So everyone keep searching for info, and Email SADC and Chinese Embassies.
April 22nd, 2008 21:07
i got an email update from llyods about an yue jiang position et cetera an hour ago and you can read the full thing on my site here
http://propagandapress.org/2008/04/22/an-yue-jiang-latest-info-lloyds-marine-intelligence-unit/
pass it on
April 22nd, 2008 22:05
Scotchcart, you are quite brilliant and informed on these issues. Keep up the great work. As ideas and suggestions fly, somebody with more knowledge than most, like you, can help give direction and sense. Than you and keep it up.
To all commenters — the amount of data generated and quality of ideas brainstorm are incredible. Keep it up, keep a bead on teh ship, prevent its offloading, prevent airplanes arriving somehow, and defang puppy bob so he can bark but not bite.
it might be an exaggeration to say he plans genocide, so it better to not hit that note, to not overstate. yet, it is possible that your actions are working to prevent what could spin into an attempt at genocide, perhaps the first time we can see citizens defanging a maniac.
April 22nd, 2008 22:08
Interdict the next container of Viagra to deflate Bob’s “inflated sense of importance” and give him a “deflated sense of impotence.”
They put Viagra in the sadza of the the so-called war vets, giving them painful erections as they attack and torture innocent people. Sexually frustrated people taking out hteir impotence on others. Shame! DEFLATE BOB’S BIG DICKS! Rigger Robber Gabrection Mugabe must be stopped.
April 23rd, 2008 00:20
Oh dear, I do fear I may have violated the codes and propriety of this blog, and I do apologize. I apologize first to Bob for exposing the medical condition that keeps the dance in his pants.
I apologize to so-called war vets who need not dietary nor pharmaceutical inducement to murder innocent people.
I apologize to the millions of responsible Viagra users everywhere and sufferers of Erectile Dysfunction (ED), for conflating randi-ness and bloodlust by confabulating Bob’s crimes against humanity with a simple boost of self-confidence through a boost of blood pressure.
To the makers of Viagra Erectile Dysfunction (ED) Treatment, Pfizer, Inc, I withdraw any statements about Bob’s medical condition that may be interpreted as libelous to the reputation and effectiveness of Pfizer’s ED treatment. Pfizer is NOT responsible for Bob’s crimes against Zimbabwe and humanity.
April 23rd, 2008 12:12
This tickled my sense of humor.
http://www.lloydslist.com/ll/news/concerns-deepen-over-zimbabwe-ships-plans/20017525853.htm
The last paragraph reminds us that the German bank who tried to claim the An Yue Jiang is able to claim any cargo headed for Zimbabwe. I am not a shipper,so my question is it true?
And what of planes carrying cargo to Zimbabwe. They have to refuel somewhere and they have to overfly somewhere. Can their cargo or even the plane itself be attached?
And why isn’t the bank attaching the Zimbabwean embassies? Commercial people - do you know? I remember when the Sherif of the High Court attached the whole of UZ because the University owed the workers some money. There wasn’t even beer in the staff pub!!!
Yes money talks!
Nothing like a banker or insurer scorned. This is the way to win a war!