Rogue Planet

BAE linked to Zimbabwean arms dealer

By Christopher Thompson and Michael Peel in London
Published: August 1 2008 03:00 | Last updated: August 1 2008 03:00

BAE Systems, the British arms manufacturer under investigation in several countries for alleged bribery, paid at least £20m to a company linked to a Zimbabwean arms trader allied to President Robert Mugabe, documents seen by the Financial Times show.

John Bredenkamp, who has indefinite leave to remain in Britain, has had a controversial career ranging from supplying military equipment to the Zimbabwean military to mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

British properties owned by Mr Bredenkamp were raided by the Serious Fraud Office more than 18 months ago as part of a long-running investigation into BAE aircraft sales to South Africa. The payment of at least £20m is the first detailed evidence of a financial relationship between Mr Bredenkamp and the group.

The payments raise fresh questions about BAE's dealings with outside agents, intermediaries who sometimes act as brokers in arms deals. Agents have featured in investigations into whether BAE channelled bribes to foreign officials to win contracts.

Zimbabwe's Rogue Arms Deal: Part V

China says arms bound for Zimbabwe to be recalled

Reuters
Thursday, 24 April 2008

China said today a shipment of weapons bound for Zimbabwe would be recalled after South African port workers refused to unload it and amid a call from Britain to prevent arms flowing into the troubled country.

Zambia, which chairs the Southern African Development Community grouping, had urged regional states to bar the An Yue Jiang from entering their waters, saying the weapons could deepen Zimbabwe's election crisis.

"To my knowledge, the Chinese company has decided to recall the ship and the relevant goods bound for Zimbabwe," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a news conference.

She said the reason was the same she gave on Tuesday - that the ship had been unable to unload its goods.

But she defended the shipment in the face of criticism from New York-based Human Rights Watch, which said that any state that sent arms and ammunition to Zimbabwe could be complicit in the country's rights abuses.

Zimbabwe's Rogue Arms Deal: Part IV

Zimbabwe arms ship 'heading for Angola'

A Chinese ship carrying arms to Zimbabwe which was turned away from South Africa is heading to Angola in hopes of docking there, the transport minister of Mozambique said on Saturday.

The ship left South African waters on Friday after a court refused to allow the weapons to be transported across South Africa, SAPA news agency said.

Mozambique's Transport and Communications Minister Paulo Zucula told Reuters that Mozambique has been monitoring the movements of the ship since it lifted anchor and left South Africa.

"We know that it registered its next destination as Luanda because here we wouldn't allow it into Mozambican waters without prior arrangements", he said.

The An Yue Jiang, a Chinese ship, had been at anchor off Durban on South Africa's Indian Ocean coast since Monday, turning into a flashpoint for trade unions and others critical of President Thabo Mbeki's quiet diplomacy toward Zimbabwe.

The 300,000-strong South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) refused to unload the weapons because of concerns Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's government might use them against opponents in the post-election stalemate.

Zimbabwe's Rogue Arms Deal: Part III

Zimbabwe Arms Shipped by China Spark an Uproar

By CELIA W. DUGGER
JOHANNESBURG — A Chinese ship loaded with armaments for Zimbabwe steamed into the port of Durban this week and set off a political firefight, putting newfound pressure on South Africa — and now China — to reduce support for Zimbabwe’s government as it cracks down on its rivals after a disputed election.

Dock workers at the port, backed by South Africa’s powerful unions, refused to unload the ammunition and weapons on Friday, vowing protests and threatening violence if the government tried to do it without them.

Meanwhile, the Anglican archbishop of the province appealed to South Africa’s High Court to bar transporting the arms across South Africa, arguing that they were likely to be used to repress Zimbabweans. The court agreed, and by late Friday the ship had pulled up anchor and set sail.

The arms shipment was ordered from China before the elections, but its arrival amid Zimbabwe’s political crisis illuminated deep fissures within South Africa over how to respond, and brought new scrutiny on China at a time when its human rights record is already under fire for suppressing protesters in Tibet and supplying arms to the government of Sudan.

Three weeks after Zimbabwe’s presidential election, officials there have yet to announce the outcome. Independent monitors believe the governing party trailed behind its main rival, the Movement for Democratic Change, but the government has responded by systematically beating, arresting and harassing its opponents, human rights groups say.

Zimbabwe's Rogue Arms Deal: Part II

Zim weapons ship waits for OK
17/04/2008 08:24 - (SA)

Erika Gibson and Gloria Edwards, Beeld

Durban - South Africa approved a transit permit this week for the shipment of tons of weapons and ammunition destined for Zimbabwe.

A Chinese ship with almost three million rounds of ammunitions for small arms and AK-47s, about 3 500 mortars and mortar launchers, as well as 1 500 rockets for rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) arrived in Durban Harbour on Monday shortly before the permit was issued.

According to a copy that Beeld has of the ship's cargo documentation, it was finalised on April 1, three days after Zimbabwe's election.

It was not known when the order for the weapons had been placed.

An inspection by the South African customs authority deemed this consignment "risky" and further shipment was halted for the moment.

According to the South African Revenue Service (SARS), who are responsible for customs control, the six containers in which the weapons had been packed would be inspected by SARS and police officials on Thursday to determine whether they were, indeed, suspect.

Zimbabwe's Rogue Arms Deal: Part I

China Ships Arms of War to Country

SW Radio Africa (London)

NEWS
16 April 2008
Posted to the web 16 April 2008

By Tichaona Sibanda

China has secretly shipped tens of thousands of small arms to the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, raising fears the consignment has been brought in to crush any attempts to unseat Robert Mugabe from power.

The consignment has cost the regime millions of United States dollars and came through Durban harbour in a Chinese registered vessel, An Yue Juang.

It includes 3 million rounds of ammunition for AK47 rifles, the standard assault weapon for the country's defence forces. There were also 1,500 rocket propelled grenades, a support weapon for the infantry, plus 3,500 mortar bombs.

Martin Welz, editor of Noseweek a Durban based investigative magazine, told Newsreel on Wednesday they were in possession of the shipping documentation of six containers addressed to the Ministry of Defence in Harare. The arms were bought from a Chinese arms company called Poly Technologies, based in Beijing.

'The ship did in fact dock in Durban between the 10th and 13th April and the six containers weigh between 8 to 15 tonnes, Welz said.

He added; 'There is also the declared policy of the commander of the defence forces Chiwenga, that he will not recognise a democratically elected president unless it happens to be Mugabe. Zimbabwe is not at war with anyone, so the purchase of such an arms consignment should be very worrying.'

[allafrica.com]