China has defended a shipment of weapons headed for Zimbabwe as "perfectly normal trade" but said it may be returning home because the ship was unable to unload.
Zambia's president urged regional states yesterday to bar the
An Yue Jiangfrom entering their waters, saying the weapons could deepen Zimbabwe's election crisis.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said the contract for the shipment was signed last year and was "unrelated to recent developments" in Zimbabwe.
She said the arms shipment was "perfectly normal trade in military goods between China and Zimbabwe", but because it was impossible for Zimbabwe to receive the goods, the company involved is now considering shipping the cargo back.
Zimbabwe announced a delay on Sunday in a partial recount of votes in March 29th parliamentary elections, extending a deadlock in which the opposition says 10 of its members have been killed and hundreds arrested.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change says its leader Morgan Tsvangirai won presidential elections, and that President Robert Mugabe is attempting to cling to power by delaying declaring the result.
Church leaders in Zimbabwe today warned that Mr Mugabe's opponents were being tortured and murdered in a deliberate campaign that could reach "genocidal" proportions.
Leaders of all denominations called for international intervention to help end the country's post-election crisis. In a joint statement, the leaders said "the nation is in a crisis."
The Chinese ship left South African waters on Friday after a court refused to allow the arms to be transported across South Africa.
The 300,000-strong South African Transport and Allied Workers Union refused to unload the weapons because of concerns Mr Mugabe's government might use them against opponents in the post-election stalemate.
Mozambique did not allow it to enter its waters.
For its part, China is trying to prevent the controversy from fuelling criticism over its human rights record and rule in Tibet ahead of hosting the Olympics in August.