ZANU PF denies sending arms to Ivory Coast

By Alex Bell
07 March 2011

Defence Minister and ZANU PF top dog, Emmerson Mnangagwa, has denied that Zimbabwe is sending arms to the Ivory Coast, amid speculation that Robert Mugabe is propping up other dictators.
Mnangagwa said over the weekend that there is nothing to fear from a United Nations (UN) investigation, into the claims that Zimbabwe sent weapons to support Ivorian despot Laurent Gbagbo, in breach of an arms embargo. It is understood that the UN has instituted a probe into “the arrival of light weapons cargoes allegedly from Zimbabwe,” to back up Gbagbo, who is clinging to power after losing elections last year.
Gbagbo’s political rival, Alassane Outtara, who won last November’s poll, is the internationally recognised leader of the country, which is said to be on the brink of civil war. He has set up an administration outside the country, but Gbagbo refuses to go anywhere, insisting he is the country’s leader.
Zimbabwe has since been implicated in arming the ten year long ruler, with multiple reports saying that a weapons shipment was sent there with Mugabe’s blessing. But Mnangagwa said claims of weapons exports to the west African country were “stupid.”
“There is nothing like that. We ourselves are looking for arms,” Mnangagwa told the NewsDay newspaper. “You yourself, do you believe such stupid things.”
Zimbabwe’s role in propping up dictators is already being questioned, amid speculation that Mugabe will play host to Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi if he flees his country. Mugabe and Gaddafi are known political allies, with Gaddafi’s administration supporting the Mugabe regime for many years. In return, Mugabe has recently sent mercenaries to oil-rich Libya, where hundreds of anti-government protesters have been killed in weeks of uprisings against Gaddafi’s 42 year rule.

The international community has been calling on Gaddafi to step down. United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week said that the US was “open” to the idea of Gaddafi fleeing to Zimbabwe, in the first indication that such an option could be on the table.

“I was almost rendered speechless by the idea of him and Mugabe coming together,” Clinton told journalists in Geneva. “If the violence could be ended by his leaving, that might be a good thing.”

Political analyst Professor John Makumbe told SW Radio Africa on Monday that Western democracies will be reluctant to criticise the relationship between Mugabe and Gaddafi, in order to let Gaddafi choose his own political refuge.

“The UN and Western democracies that form part of the UN have been shy of being too severe on Zimbabwe with regards to Libya, because they need oil. So they have allowed the relationship to continue almost unnoticed,” Makumbe said.

He added: “You also have a situation where Zimbabwe is considered to trivial in economic and security terms. It is considered insignificant and the West has in the past ignored gross human rights violations because they have not directly touched Western powers or their interests.”

If Gaddafi does flee to Zimbabwe, he will be the second fallen dictator to seek refuge there. Former Ethiopian strongman Mengistu Haile Mariam, was sentenced to death in his own country for slaughtering thousands of people, but he lives in luxury in Zimbabwe.