April 24, 2008 9:16 AM

China recalls Zimbabwe arms amid election crisis

According to a new report on the BBC a top US envoy is asserting that the Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was the "clear" victor of last month's poll.

In the midst of the ongoing turmoil, Amnesty yesterday joined the international community calling for the halting of China's arms shipment fearing that new weapons would pose a real risk of more state-sponsored violence. Today comes the news from Reuters that the shipment will be recalled.

HARARE (Reuters) - A shipment of Chinese arms bound for Zimbabwe will be recalled after South African workers refused to unload the vessel and other neighboring 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.

Amnesty International is a group we are supporting in 2008. This organization, together with Human Rights Watch (a group we funded in 2007), and the brave workers who took a stand in refusing to unload this deadly cargo, are to be congratulated on their part in China's decision.