The An Yue Jiang could be in Angola by midday tomorrow
Don’t celebrate too soon. Weapons and force are the key to Mugabe’s survival - he is not going to give up so easily and we must not let our vigilance drop.
News everywhere is that the ship has been recalled to China, but an article posted a lunch time today in South Africa has a different view:
The ship An Yue Jiang, loaded with weapons for Zimbabwe, is expected to dock in Lobito, Angola at midday on Friday, where activists hope it will meet the same fate as it did in Durban last week.
International Transport Workers Federation’s spokesperson Sam Dawson said on Wednesday that they were “extremely confident” that the Chinese container ship was on its way to Lobito. Preparations would be made to prevent its cargo from being off-loaded by dock workers there.
The Chinese ship had been spotted off the western coast of Africa, he said, but declined identify the ITFs sources, since they would be in danger of being exposed. He said the ship was sailing at 11 knots and would, by ITF calculations, be outside Lobito on Friday.
Union preparations were continuing to block attempts to unload and transport the cargo “and any attempt to do so will be met by the strongest possible trade union response”.
I’ve spoken to contacts in South Africa and the question activists are asking there is ‘what is happening to the cargo’. Even if reports that the ship is on its way back to China are true, there are real fears the cargo will be airfreighted into the country.
Please check our Action Contact Database for Angola contacts and see if there is anything that we could add.
Update:
Here is a Portuguese letter to send. It’s slightly different to our earlier one here which was Brazilian Portuguese: this is European Portuguese. Thanks to CC and Jose Ribeiro e Castro for the translations:
Estimado(a) Senhor(a),
Estou muito preocupado com as notícias de que um navio chinês, “An Yue Jiang”, carregando armas com destino ao Zimbabué, pode estar a dirigir-se para o seu país.
Assim, dirijo-lhe um apelo para fazer tudo o que possa para impedir que estas armas cheguem ao Zimbabué. O Zimbabué não é um país em guerra e os resultados das eleições democráticas realizadas em 29 de Março de 2008 têm ainda de ser anunciados. Seria errado enviar armas para um país sob a tensão de um impasse político.
Eu vi retratos terríveis das vítimas da tortura e li relatos das pessoas agredidas e brutalizadas no Zimbabué. Milhares de cidadãos de Zimbabué foram deslocados de suas residências nas áreas rurais e ameaçados de morte se voltassem. Estas vítimas são cidadãos que não fizeram nada mais do que exercitar o direito democrático de votar livremente por um representante de sua escolha.
Muita gente em todo o mundo está a seguir a história da difícil transição do Zimbabué para a democracia. Estamos muito impressionados pelo facto de os povos do Zimbabué permanecerem não-violentos apesar das circunstâncias terríveis. O que desejamos é um futuro positivo para todos no Zimbabué.
Sinto-me muito incentivado e também orgulhoso pela bondade e pelos esforços dos cidadãos da África do Sul que trabalham juntos para proteger os povos do Zimbabué de ainda mais violência. Venho apelar-lhe para fazer o mesmo no seu país.
Agradeço-lhe muito por ler esta mensagem.
(Sign your name here)
April 24th, 2008 19:56
Lloyds does know where she is. She reported into them at 1600 CAT. Again! That is 2 hours ago.
Somebody did comment with details of an email from them. Maybe she knows a magic trick of getting information from them.
http://www.lloydsmiu.com/lmiu/casualties/index.htm
April 24th, 2008 21:13
Thanks for the Lloys link. I’ve signed up for a free trial of their service, since when you click through on the entry you get asked to sign in or up. It’s £3050 so I won’t be subscribing, but there is also a “lite” service at £650/$1205 for viewing AIS transmitting vessels across the globe at any time (presumably without the news details in the main option).
Meanwhile the most recent press release on this ship (on Monday) can be seen here:
http://www.lloydsmiu.com/lmiu/article/20017525399/index.htm
April 24th, 2008 21:16
SHIFTED ATTENTION!!
Hi Sokwanele….
In as much as the ship issue is of paramount importance in the current Zim situation, we should not shift our attention from THE REAL ISSUE.. ie election results. I believe we need to lobby for the release of these reswults in the same manner people managed to block the Chinese ship.. ZANU Pf is happy with the current situation because we have shifted focus and concentrated on other issues.. Can anyone suggest a strategy to start the releasing of results campaign….
April 24th, 2008 23:19
Regarding Angola, and its involvement. There are two points to mention:
1. Regarding the readiness of ‘crack troops’ ready to assist the Zimbabwean military. The Angola constitution specifically states, under Article 15, that it shall not interfere in the internal affairs of OAU countries. And 2. Regarding the receipt of arms destined for Zimbabwe, under article 16 it is stated that: “The Republic of Angola shall support and be in solidarity with the struggles of people for national liberation and shall establish relations of friendship and cooperation with all democratic forces…”
It seems to me that Angola would be acting unconstitutionally if it were to support Mugabe in a policy of undemocratic tyranny.
April 25th, 2008 00:25
well i guess that adds another night of uncertainty to the mix…the chinese foreign ministry are up to some tricky politics…”I’d like to stress that the Chinese Government always adopts a prudent and responsible attitude towards arms export and one of the important principles it adheres to is non-interference in the internal affairs of recipient countries. We hope relevant side not to politicize this issue.”
April 25th, 2008 08:59
Guys we have to go back to the beginning and find out what else is on that ship…there may be private companies (such as mining) putting pressure on to get their equipment and inforcing delivery date penalities etc can anyone get hold of the original whistle blower (much admired by me) and see what else is on the manifesto if it is private companies orders then we must start lobbying them and expose them for their part in this if infact they have any………..and since Lloyds maybe insuring the cargo I guess they are gonna have to pay out so we better start lobbying them too this looks like more about money and greed now so come on if you got information spill…and then we will take up the challenge of lobbying these guys………
April 25th, 2008 10:14
To various
We can be sure that lots of people know where the ship is and are not telling. .us. If we start protesting about getting shot, being given funny money, etc.etc. it spoils the game for them. Wow - that is a sour comment for first thing in the morning.
What has been sweet about this campaign is that it is flushing out who is involved as ENABLERS. Zimbabwe is not a complicated place. Its economy would barely get it on a stock exchange in a big country. With the internet and people around the world, we can map out the critical players. Where does the money come from, how is it transmitted (which banks), who takes a cut, where does it go to?
We can map out the key sales like the weapons and the shipping?
And the scams, the ivory that might have paid for the the weapons - see thezimbabwean.co.uk. The differential in the official price of forex allowing the chefs to buy Mercs for 25 pounds or USD50.
And we don’t need to know everything. Just enough. Two or three pieces of the puzzle are often enough.
And once we know we mustn’t stop. A little transparency is Zimbabwe’s best defense against this happening again.
Enough of the outline. The An Yue Jiang is expected in Lobito in TWO hours. Any time now she will have to use her radio to contact the port. Medics will be standing by to do the quarantine. ITWF sound like they are on to it. We can imagine the ‘riot police’ in Angola are on to it too.
Yes, there was stuff on board for Botswana. They will want to offload that - fair enough.
But not the weapons!
April 25th, 2008 10:26
Zim, the world is mobilising in prayer for you folks.
Received this by e-mail this morning:
There is so much floating around about Zimbabwe. This is the only one that will make a difference. LOVE YOU ALL.!
Subject: It is time - PLEASE PRAY for Zimbabwe 8am, 1pm and 8p
DEAR FRIEND,
IN WORLD WAR II WHILE HITLER WAS BRUTALLY TAKING OVER THE WORLD, THERE WAS AN ADVISOR TO CHURCHILL WHO ORGANISED A GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO DROPPED WHAT THEY WERE DOING EVERY NIGHT AT A PRESCRIBED TIME FOR JUST ONE MINUTE TO COLLECTIVELY PRAY FOR THE SAFETY OF ENGLAND, ITS’ PEOPLE AND PEACE.
THINGS DRASTICALLY CHANGED AND WELL, THE REST IS HISTORY
GOD IS THE ANSWER AND PRAYER IS THE ONLY WAY FOR ZIMBABWE !
IN VIEW OF THE CURRENT STATE OF AFFAIRS IN ZIMBABWE WE ARE ORGANISING A DAILY ONE MINUTE PRAYER TIME AT 8 A.M. OR 1 P.M. OR 8.00 P.M. AT ANY ONE OF THESE TIMES, PLEASE STOP WHATEVER YOU ARE DOING AND SPEND THAT ONE MINUTE PRAYING FOR GOD TO INTERVENE IN THE AFFAIRS OF OUR COUNTRY.
SOMEONE SAID IF CHRISTIANS REALLY UNDERSTOOD THE FULL EXTENT OF THE POWER WE HAVE AVAILABLE THROUGH PRAYER, WE MIGHT BE SPEECHLESS. OUR PRAYERS ARE THE MOST POWERFUL ASSET WE HAVE. TOGETHER. WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
IF YOU KNOW ANY OTHER CHRISTIAN BROTHER AND SISTER WHO WOULD LIKE TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS POWERFUL EXERCISE, PLEASE PASS THIS ALONG.
THANK YOU,
ZIMBABWE
24-hour Solidarity Vigil
This is from the Morning Mirror, please try and pass it on to as many people as you can,
Many thanks
Dear World,
I am a 16 year old person living in Zimbabwe. I think the time has come for a more direct appeal, and so I am writing to you, the world.
Maybe, just maybe, there might be someone out there who can help us…
It’s tough here now. The inflation rate is so high that if you don’t change money within 6 hours you could get half the amount of foreign currency that you would have originally received.
We’re starving now; people die around us. In the last year alone at least ten people associated personally with my family have died despite the fact that they were only middle-aged. Other people don’t make it to middle age. They don’t even make it past childhood.
Our once-proud nation is on it’s knees. We flee or die. This beautiful, bountiful once-rich land has become a living hell. We have dealt with it until now; we have made a plan. That was the Zimbabwean motto: “MAKE A PLAN”.
But now we can’t make a plan. We’re too tired, too broken, too bankrupt. We can’t afford life, and life does not cost much, not really. We cannot afford to eat, we cannot afford to drink, and we cannot afford to make mistakes, because if we do we die. We don’t have the capital to support ourselves, and those few who do, have to deal with the horror of watching their friends and family fall into absolute poverty as they cannot afford to help them.
We’re waiting desperately for a great hand to pick us up out of the dirt because at the moment we are outnumbered by Fate herself, and so we close our eyes and pray. We have fought for too long, and have been brought to breaking point. We simply stand, heads down, and bear it. Our spirit has gone; we are defeated. After a valiant struggle of over fifteen years, we have been broken.
There is no will left, no spirit. Like a horse that has been beaten until it cannot fight anymore; we are the same, and, like that horse, we stand dusty, scarred and alone, with dried blood on our sides and lash marks along our flanks. Our ribs too stand out; our hide is also dull.
Our eyes are glazed, our throats are parched, and our knees struggle to support us so that we stand with splayed legs to bear the brunt of the next beating, too dejected even to whimper…
This is my plea. The thought of picking ourselves up again is sickening; one can only take so many blows before oblivion is reached, and we are teetering on the rim of the bottomless void. One more push will be the end of us all…
There must be someone out there who can do something. There must be someone out there who cares! We are a destroyed nation, and the world sits back and watches, pretending they cannot hear our cries. I appeal to you all…
HELP US!
A 16 YEAR OLD ZIMBABWEAN……
April 25th, 2008 10:56
think the origi8nal whistle blowers are zim refugees doing manual labour. However that ship was bound for zim and SA knew about it.
Yet i have a quaetion, before accusing zanu of wanting to use tehse weapons against the populace, and not the possibly on hand foreign intervention.. do people have any idea of the nr of munitions and arms already in zim?
Personally i dont yet belief the shipment is a proof or indication of anything. Another 3 percent more ammunition and 3 percent more weapons wont be a great difference.
Yeah otoh , stopping any shipent of weapons seems plain honourable.
April 25th, 2008 11:30
@ Durbs
Not just for Christians, for every one.
A moment to stand shoulder to shoulder with everyone who wants to see the world a better place.
April 25th, 2008 15:05
Does anyone have news on the ship’s whereabouts? It has dropped off the news. Worrying, specially with other issues taking front such as MDC office attack. Mugabe loves a diversion!
April 25th, 2008 15:31
I agree BM. The BBC are reporting from Joburg that she has gone - but not a shred of evidence. ITFW are only credible source of info I think.
The good news is that SADC says the results must be announced by Saturday.
Someone said it will be nice to know which 9 seats have been recounted with “no change” which I like to call “no pamberi no pasi”. I think we can take it as read that the invasion of MDC offices means the recount has ‘failed’!
The kidnapping of people from the offices is more serious. For them it is very serious. It makes us feel helpless.
I am also using the word kidnapping, which is a harsh and legal word, because that has been used to describe the taking of people to Gautanemo without legal process.
When people loose all sight of what it is right or wrong, it makes life difficult. We can’t reason, we can’t implore, we can’t persuade.
So we must outwit. Outwit.
The Zimbabwe game is played on the bigger stage - like it or not we are part of the world. Let’s keep the pressure up. The report on the SADC statement said that the AU might call a summit. Just people putting that pressure is important because SADC has a choice - sort this or loose status. Seriously lose status as people who cannot manage their own affairs. So we should see some change. And then of course a reaction.
It struck me someone could make a new snakes and ladders game and sell it for a fortune. Up some ladders and down some snakes. Right now the ladders are getting longer and more numerous and the snakes shorter and less frequent. We are going in the right direction.
REMEMBER WE HAVE WON!
April 25th, 2008 16:42
The latest news here in the UK is that the shipment of arms has been recalled back to China and is allegedly somewhere south of the Cape at present.
It is all very confusing as to the exact location of this ship - has anyone got the latest from the Lloyds Reports or elsewhere?- with so much useful information comming in to this blog - good on you all at sokwanele for instigating such a brilliant communication process.
I know I feel the frustration of being unable to give physical assistance and support to those in need in Zimbabwe right now - but I am prepared to give as much time as possible to the emails and communications that have come from this blog.
The latest this afternoon is a call by the British PM (our mate useless Brown) is for the results to be made know by this weekend (as if Mugabe is going to take any notice of him anyway). Is this likely or even possible in Zimbabwe today?
I know I have been concentrating on the arms shipment issue over the last few days and not been aware of any of Sokwanele’s Tibet issues. Is this still on your radar or have you got enough going on already?
April 25th, 2008 21:28
New is the ship is in Luanda, so is Munangagwa… specially sent today by Mugabe… and now this from reuters:
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Angola has authorized a Chinese ship carrying arms that were destined for Zimbabwe to offload goods, Angola’s state-run news agency ANGOP said on Friday.
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL2535601420080425
April 25th, 2008 21:29
And here she is, the An Yue Jiang is in Angola!
Well our judgment was better than all the journalists!
http://uk.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKL2535601420080425
April 26th, 2008 00:32
This is very grim news. I hope and pray that the dockers in Angola show the same spirit as their Durban counterparts. The problem is that in SA we still have personal rights and freedoms - they might end up taking a beating themselves if they refuse - it’s not as easy as the Durban scenario.
One thing is for sure - the Angolan government is VERY FRIENDLY towards Mugabe and Zanu-PF. The one thing in our favour is that the roads between Luanda and Zim are not very good so transport by road is not good.
We need to mobilise the unions in Angola. What would also be very useful are the serial numbers of the containers and a description (ie: 20′ or 40′, colour, logos). At least then we can have a better chance of someone spotting them being offloaded.
April 28th, 2008 13:45
God said “I will cut off the wicked and increase the power of the godly.”
Psalm 75.
Bless you all, my thoughts and prayers are with Africa.
Regards… Jonathan
April 25th, 2008 00:14
[...] Zimbabwe: Lloyd’s MIU - 20017525399 Over The Horizon Posted in April 24th, 2008 by ginny in Blogs Wot I Read, Hot Off The Presses, Politics, Schmolitics The An Yue Jiang may have been turned around and headed back to China, as reported by the Beeb and the NYT, but maybe they’re just headed out to sea to do a little “over-the-horizon” transfer work. Sokwanele/This is Zimbabwe says “Don’t celebrate just yet:” [...]
April 25th, 2008 00:30
[...] apr 24 2008 1729 The ship An Yue Jiang, loaded with weapons for Zimbabwe, is expected to dock in Lobito, Angola at midday on Friday, where [...]
April 25th, 2008 00:32
[...] Lobito, Angola at midday on Friday Posted in Africa by propaganda press on April 25th, 2008 The ship An Yue Jiang, loaded with weapons for Zimbabwe, is expected to dock in Lobito, Angola at midday on Friday, where [...]
April 25th, 2008 15:35
[...] BBC News reports that China has finally accepted defeat and recalled the An Yue Jiang (although This is Zimbabwe are still reporting it due in Angola today) - they’re labelling the decision “victory [...]