Zimbabwe

International labour group attempts to block arms shipment

Article published on the 2008-04-21 Latest update 2008-04-21 15:15 TU

In an effort to prevent a Chinese arms shipment from reaching Zimbabwe, the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) said Monday it will try to prevent the ship from docking and offloading its cargo in any African harbour. The London-based ITF is a federation of more than 650 unions representing 4.5 million transport workers in 148 countries around the world.

"Our objective is to mobilise and organise unions in Africa to take a firm stand and try to stop the ship from offloading these dangerous weapons which could be used to kill Zimbabweans," said ITF spokesman Sprite Zungu in Durban, South Africa.

Zungu said that he was not sure where the cargo was headed but as soon as he received word he would travel to the port to try and persuade workers not to offload it.

The ship was previously anchored off the South African port of Durban. It is now en route to an unknown destination. A high court in Durban ruled on Friday that the ship could offload its cargo in Durban port but the shipment could not be transported via land to the border of Zimbabwe.

The cargo reportedly includes three million rounds of AK-47 ammunition, 1,500 rocket-propelled grenades and more than 3,000 mortar rounds and mortar tubes.