Arms ship heads for Congo

The Times 8/5/2008
The cargo of Chinese arms destined for Zimbabwe is now heading for Congo Brazzaville, according the South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union, where the union believes a further attempt will be made to unload the weapons ... The Durban-based inspectorate of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), which has been monitoring the cargo ship Au Yue Jiang, is itself flying to Brazzaville to make sure that the weapons are not off-loaded there. A Satawu statement issued today said that the union could confirm that the ship docked in the port of Lobito in Angola and off-loaded building materials only ... Satawu said it condemned the Chinese government and the ship owners China Ocean Shipping Company (Cosco) for creating a false impression around the world that they had recalled the vessel. "This so-called recall was clearly only intended to deceive and remove the massive groundswell of political pressure ... "Both the Chinese government and Cosco have regrettably demonstrated that profiteering remains the overriding consideration over human solidarity and saving lives ... Satawu again called on all African governments and dock workers to refuse the vessel docking access and to refuse to handle the weapons with a view to ensuring that the vessel leaves African shores immediately ...