China recalls Zimbabwe arms amid election crisis
* China says ship carrying weapons to be recalled
* Zuma says too early for Zimbabwe arms embargo
* Tutu calls on African leaders to take action
By Cris Chinaka
HARARE, April 24 (Reuters) - A shipment of Chinese arms bound for Zimbabwe will be recalled after South African port workers refused to unload the vessel and neighbouring countries barred it from their ports, China said on Thursday.
The recall of the An Yue Jiang, carrying 77 tonnes of assault rifle ammunition, mortars and rifle grenades, came after unprecedented regional opposition in addition to Western pressure over Zimbabwe's election crisis.
No results have been announced for the March 29 presidential vote, while the outcome of a parliamentary poll which the opposition won is also in doubt because of partial recounts.
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai has said he won the presidential election outright and has accused President Robert Mugabe of delaying results to rig victory and keep his 28-year hold on power.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a news conference in Beijing that the ship is to be recalled after it was unable to offload its cargo.
"To my knowledge, the Chinese company has decided to recall the ship and the relevant goods bound for Zimbabwe," Jiang said.
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. Neighbouring Zambia had also said the weapons could worsen Zimbabwe's crisis.
The European Union already has an arms embargo against Zimbabwe, part of sanctions in place since 2002. The embargo bars the 27 EU states from supplying arms or equipment intended for military operations. The U.S. has also imposed sanctions.
Jacob Zuma, leader of South Africa's ruling African National Congress, said on Thursday it was not yet time to impose an arms embargo on Zimbabwe.
Zuma, who has become the most outspoken African leader on Zimbabwe, was in London after talks with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, one of Mugabe's harshest critics. Former colonial ruler Britain wants a wider arms embargo on Zimbabwe.
"I don't think we have reached the stage for arms embargo, I think it is going too far and I think it complicates a situation that needs to be handled with great care," Zuma told a press briefing in London.
PRESSURE
Zuma, who has distanced himself from the "quiet diplomacy" of South African President Thabo Mbeki over Zimbabwe, has called on African leaders to take action to unlock the stalemate in Zimbabwe, which is also suffering economic collapse.
Nobel Peace Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu said on Thursday he supported every effort made to prevent arms flowing into Zimbabwe. He also called on African leaders to convince Mugabe to step down.
"I want to call on African leaders to show that they really care by speaking quietly to Mr. Mugabe and say: 'Step down, you've been there for 20 years, man'," Tutu told reporters in the South African university town of Stellenbosch.
The MDC, human rights groups and Western powers have accused Mugabe's ZANU-PF of launching a campaign of post-election violence. Tsvangirai says 10-15 MDC supporters have already been killed. Officials from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) said ZANU-PF and the MDC had each retained one constituency in the recount which started last Saturday, the state-run Herald newspaper reported in its online version.
It quoted ZEC deputy chief elections officer Utoile Silaigwana as saying the recount would end by the weekend.
ZANU-PF lost 16 of those 23 constituencies in the original count, and needs to win nine more seats to overturn the opposition's parliament victory, the first in Mugabe's 28-year rule.
The government has clearly indicated it expects a presidential runoff -- necessary if neither candidate wins an absolute majority.
The United States has led international calls for Africa to do more to end the Zimbabwe crisis. Washington's chief Africa diplomat, Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer, is in South Africa as part of a previously-arranged regional tour. (Reporting by Lindsay Beck in Beijing, Matthew Tostevin in London, Cris Chinaka in Harare and Wendell Roelf in Cape Town; Writing by Marius Bosch; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)
* Zuma says too early for Zimbabwe arms embargo
* Tutu calls on African leaders to take action
By Cris Chinaka
HARARE, April 24 (Reuters) - A shipment of Chinese arms bound for Zimbabwe will be recalled after South African port workers refused to unload the vessel and neighbouring countries barred it from their ports, China said on Thursday.
The recall of the An Yue Jiang, carrying 77 tonnes of assault rifle ammunition, mortars and rifle grenades, came after unprecedented regional opposition in addition to Western pressure over Zimbabwe's election crisis.
No results have been announced for the March 29 presidential vote, while the outcome of a parliamentary poll which the opposition won is also in doubt because of partial recounts.
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai has said he won the presidential election outright and has accused President Robert Mugabe of delaying results to rig victory and keep his 28-year hold on power.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a news conference in Beijing that the ship is to be recalled after it was unable to offload its cargo.
"To my knowledge, the Chinese company has decided to recall the ship and the relevant goods bound for Zimbabwe," Jiang said.
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. Neighbouring Zambia had also said the weapons could worsen Zimbabwe's crisis.
The European Union already has an arms embargo against Zimbabwe, part of sanctions in place since 2002. The embargo bars the 27 EU states from supplying arms or equipment intended for military operations. The U.S. has also imposed sanctions.
Jacob Zuma, leader of South Africa's ruling African National Congress, said on Thursday it was not yet time to impose an arms embargo on Zimbabwe.
Zuma, who has become the most outspoken African leader on Zimbabwe, was in London after talks with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, one of Mugabe's harshest critics. Former colonial ruler Britain wants a wider arms embargo on Zimbabwe.
"I don't think we have reached the stage for arms embargo, I think it is going too far and I think it complicates a situation that needs to be handled with great care," Zuma told a press briefing in London.
PRESSURE
Zuma, who has distanced himself from the "quiet diplomacy" of South African President Thabo Mbeki over Zimbabwe, has called on African leaders to take action to unlock the stalemate in Zimbabwe, which is also suffering economic collapse.
Nobel Peace Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu said on Thursday he supported every effort made to prevent arms flowing into Zimbabwe. He also called on African leaders to convince Mugabe to step down.
"I want to call on African leaders to show that they really care by speaking quietly to Mr. Mugabe and say: 'Step down, you've been there for 20 years, man'," Tutu told reporters in the South African university town of Stellenbosch.
The MDC, human rights groups and Western powers have accused Mugabe's ZANU-PF of launching a campaign of post-election violence. Tsvangirai says 10-15 MDC supporters have already been killed. Officials from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) said ZANU-PF and the MDC had each retained one constituency in the recount which started last Saturday, the state-run Herald newspaper reported in its online version.
It quoted ZEC deputy chief elections officer Utoile Silaigwana as saying the recount would end by the weekend.
ZANU-PF lost 16 of those 23 constituencies in the original count, and needs to win nine more seats to overturn the opposition's parliament victory, the first in Mugabe's 28-year rule.
The government has clearly indicated it expects a presidential runoff -- necessary if neither candidate wins an absolute majority.
The United States has led international calls for Africa to do more to end the Zimbabwe crisis. Washington's chief Africa diplomat, Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer, is in South Africa as part of a previously-arranged regional tour. (Reporting by Lindsay Beck in Beijing, Matthew Tostevin in London, Cris Chinaka in Harare and Wendell Roelf in Cape Town; Writing by Marius Bosch; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)
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