NYT (NEW YORK)--Zambia’s president, Levy Mwanawasa,
urged nations in the region to bar a Chinese ship carrying arms destined for Zimbabwe from entering their waters, saying the shipment could deepen the country’s election crisis.The Chinese ship, An Yue Jiang, was turned away from South Africa and was heading for Angola in the hope of docking there, Mozambique said Saturday. Mozambique did not allow it to enter its waters. “I hope this will be the case with all the countries because we don’t want a situation which will escalate” the tension in Zimbabwe even more, said Mr. Mwanawasa, who is also chairman of the Southern African Development Community regional grouping. Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/22/world/africa/22zimbabwe.html?ref=africa (Reliability: 8)Comment: Mugabe has a reputation of being a 'strong man' in the region, meaning that he readily uses or threatens to use the Zimbabwean Army domestically and internationally. This is evidenced by his repression of Matabeleland in the mid-/late 1980's, domestic political repression, and large deployment in the DR Congo war. An arms embargo, informal or sanctioned by a multilateral, reduces Mugabe's ability to threaten his neighbors, who would prefer a less belligerent and more stable Zimbabwe.
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