US moves to halt shipment of arms reaching Zimbabwe

THE United States is intervening with governments in southern Africa to prevent a Chinese ship carrying weapons for Zimbabwe's security forces from unloading its cargo.

And the State Department's top Africa specialist, Jendayi Frazer, plans to visit the region this week to underline US concerns.

Mr Frazer will try to persuade Zimbabwe's neighbours to step up pressure on President Robert Mugabe to publish results from a disputed election that the opposition claims to have won.

US intelligence agencies are tracking the vessel, the An Yue Jiang, and American diplomats have been instructed to press authorities in at least four nations – South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia and Angola – not to allow it to dock.

The ship has already been turned away from South Africa and Mozambique, and is now believed to be headed for Angola, possibly with a refuelling stop in Namibia.

The freighter left South Africa after a judge barred the arms from transiting the country on Friday and it was not immediately clear if US lobbying had influenced authorities in Mozambique, who stopped it from docking over the weekend.