Zimbabwe dragged into attempted Swazi arms deal – Wikileaks

Zimbabwe makes interesting reading. The country has been dragged into an attempted US$60 million arms purchase by Swaziland. The only reason is that Swaziland did not allegedly need the array of weapons requested. Another ventured elsewhere is that the country was trying to make up for weapons from China that it had been stopped from getting. But even in the diplomatic cable released by Wikileaks, Zimbabwe was just mentioned in passing.

According to the cable filed by Maurice Parker, United States ambassador to Swaziland, on 11 June 2009 Swaziland sought to buy the arms worth US$60 million in December 2009 from British weapons manufacturer Unionlet Limited. The British government, however, denied the request over end-use concerns.

The weapons included 3 Bell Model UH-1H helicopters, FN Herstal 7.6251mm Minimi light machine guns, blank and tracer ammunition, armoured personnel carriers, command and control vehicles including one fitted with a 12.7x99mm M2 Browning heavy machine gun and others fitted with the FN Herstal light machine guns, military ambulances, armoured repair and recovery vehicles, weapon sights, military image intensifier equipment, optical target surveillance equipment, 620 Heckler & Koch G36E assault rifles, 240 Heckler & Koch G36K assault rifles, 65 Heckler & Koch G36E rifles, 75 Heckler & Koch UMP submachine guns 9x19mm, and 35 Heckler & Koch USP semi-automatic pistols.

Swaziland said it wanted the weapons for its United Nations peacekeeping forces.

The US ambassador, however, felt that the array of weapons requested would not be needed for the first phases of peacekeeping, although it is possible someone tried to convince the Swazi government they were required.

He said Swaziland may have been attempting to build up domestic capability to deal with unrest, or was possibly acting as an intermediary for a “third party such as Zimbabwe or a Middle Eastern country that had cash, diamonds or goods to trade”.

It is not clear why the ambassador brought in Zimbabwe but this could have been an attempt to so show Zimbabwe’s desperation for weapons ostensibly because it had failed to secure weapons it had ordered from China after dock-workers in South Africa refused to offload the weapons.

The weapons were delivered to Zimbabwe from Angola by a British-owned company Avient, though the company refuses to confirm this. This works well for the company as the West and the media continue to revel in the story that the delivery was foiled as this makes it a victory against Mugabe.

It is not clear why anyone would have expected Zimbabwe to be involved in the Swazi arms deal as it had signed the global political agreement three months before the attempted purchase.

Full cable:

Viewing cable 09MBABANE141, SWAZILAND ARMS PURCHASE ATTEMPTED

If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs

Understanding cables

Every cable message consists of three parts:

* The top box shows each cables unique reference number, when and by whom it originally was sent, and what its initial classification was.

* The middle box contains the header information that is associated with the cable. It includes information about the receiver(s) as well as a general subject.

* The bottom box presents the body of the cable. The opening can contain a more specific subject, references to other cables (browse by origin to find them) or additional comment. This is followed by the main contents of the cable: a summary, a collection of specific topics and a comment section.

To understand the justification used for the classification of each cable, please use this WikiSource article as reference.

Discussing cables

If you find meaningful or important information in a cable, please link directly to its unique reference number. Linking to a specific paragraph in the body of a cable is also possible by copying the appropriate link (to be found at theparagraph symbol). Please mark messages for social networking services like Twitter with the hash tags #cablegate and a hash containing the reference ID e.g. #09MBABANE141.

Reference ID

Created

Released

Classification

Origin

09MBABANE141

2009-06-11 15:03

2011-02-24 12:12

SECRET

Embassy Mbabane

P 111527Z JUN 09

FM AMEMBASSY MBABANE

TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3557

INFO SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY

AMEMBASSY LONDON

AMEMBASSY PARIS

HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE

S E C R E T MBABANE 000141

DEPT FOR DS/IP/AF, DS/IP/ITA; AF/S (MJWILLS,EPELLETREU, MHARRIS); AF/RSA; LONDON, PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCH

SECRET

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/09/2019

TAGS: KDEM PGOV PINR PREL WZ PINS MASS ETTC XF

SUBJECT: SWAZILAND ARMS PURCHASE ATTEMPTED

Classified By: AMB. MAURICE PARKER FOR REASONS 1.4 (b) AND (d)

¶1. (S) SUMMARY: In December 2008, the GKOS sought to purchase approximately 60 million USD worth of military equipment, including helicopters, vehicles, weapons, and ammunition from a British weapons manufacturer. The British government denied the request over end-use concerns. In documents requesting permission to purchase the equipment, Swaziland’s Ministry of Defense stated that the equipment was for use by the Umbutfo Swaziland Defense Force (USDF) on United Nations peacekeeping deployment in Africa. It is unclear whether this was the intended purpose, or whether GKOS was attempting to build up domestic capability to deal with unrest, or was possibly acting as an intermediary for a third party. END SUMMARY

¶2. (S) In December 2008, the GKOS sought to purchase approximately 60 million USD worth of military equipment from British weapons manufacturer Unionlet Limited (please protect). The British government denied the request over end-use concerns. A senior level contact with the British High Commission in Pretoria (please protect) recently provided Ambassador Parker with documentation on the attempted purchase.

¶3. (S) The purchase application, signed by XXXXXXXXXXXX, included requests for 3 Bell Model UH-1H helicopters, FN Herstal 7.6251mm Minimi light machine guns, blank and tracer ammunition, armored personnel carriers, command and control vehicles including one fitted with a 12.7x99mm M2 Browning heavy machine gun and others fitted with the FN Herstal light machine guns, military ambulances, armored repair and recovery vehicles, weapon sights, military image intensifier equipment, optical target surveillance equipment, 620 Heckler & Koch G36E assault rifles, 240 Heckler & Koch G36K assault rifles, 65 Heckler & Koch G36E rifles, 75 Heckler & Koch UMP submachine guns 9x19mm, and 35 Heckler & Koch USP semi-automatic pistols. SwazilandQs Ministry of Defense stated in the purchase documents that the equipment was for use by the Umbutfo Swaziland Defense Force on United Nations peacekeeping deployment in Africa.

¶4. (S) COMMENT: Post is disappointed that XXXXXXXXXXXX did not disclose anything about this request to Ambassador Parker or DATT Langdorf in one of several very candid and private discussions since this order was placed. If XXXXXXXXXXXX were coerced into making the order, he might have been embarrassed to discuss it, though from his experience, one would think he would assume we would find out about it and that he might have wanted to do damage control.

¶5. (S) The array of weapons requested would not be needed for the first phases of peacekeeping, although it is possible someone tried to convince the Swazi government they were required. The GKOS may have been attempting to build up domestic capability to deal with unrest, or was possibly acting as an intermediary for a third party such as Zimbabwe or a Middle Eastern country that had cash, diamonds or goods to trade. XXXXXXXXXXXX, traveled to Iran and later to Libya, and several GKOS Ministers made trips to Kuwait, Dubai, and other Arab nations. We also understand that an Iranian ambassador, resident in either Pretoria or Maputo, recently presented his letters of credence to King Mswati to establish formal diplomatic relations with Swaziland.

¶6. (S) We are not aware of subsequent purchase requests. XXXXXXXXXXXX

¶7. (S) Please protect information on the identity of the British weapons manufacturer. The British contact providing documentation for this purchase informed Ambassador Parker that if the information becomes public, the manufacturer could sue the British Government for violating confidentiality. END COMMENT.

PARKER

(5010 VIEWS)