The SAAF Forum

LONDON — Britain’s arms industry and other companies are to be called before politicians to explain why taxpayer funds ended up helping President Robert Mugabe buy five Hawk fighter jets and 1 030 police Land Rovers which he later used to suppress dissent.
The bosses of the world’s biggest defence and oil companies, including BAE Systems and BP, will be asked to account for why hundreds of millions of pounds of government money was used to help military dictators build up their arsenals, and facilitate environmental and human rights abuses across the world.

An official inquiry into the government Export Credits Guarantee Department’s underwriting of the loans will begin to call witnesses next week, The Guardian has learnt.

The all-party parliamentary group on international corporate responsibility will investigate more than 40 years of the government’s involvement in supporting dubious practices overseas.

Among the catalogue of ethically questionable deals was £35 million lent to Zimbabwe to buy five Hawk fighter jets from BAE Systems between 1989 and 1992.

Zimbabwe, which was already heavily indebted, spent £49 million repaying the cost of the Hawks, according to a response to a freedom of information request from the Jubilee Debt Campaign seen by The Guardian.

Mugabe’s government deployed the jets in the 1998-2002 war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa’s most deadly conflict in modern history, which led to 5,4 million deaths.

At the time of deployment, the British government approved Zimbabwe’s purchase of spare parts worth £5 million to £10 million despite concerns the aircraft were being used in the deadly Congo war, according to the journal Africana Bulletin.

The department also supplied Mugabe with £21 million of loan guarantees to help him import 1 030 police Land Rovers and other military equipment. Mugabe promised they would be used “with due respect for human rights”, but Amnesty International said they were used to crush demonstrations.

The department also supported the al-Yamamah “oil for arms” deal with Saudi Arabia, for which BAE was investigated by the Serious Fraud Office amid allegations of bribery and corruption.

The government loans also allowed the former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, and his predecessor Anwar Sadat, to buy arms, and helped Argentina buy two Type 42 Destroyers and two helicopters, which were later used in the invasion of the Falklands.

Herald Reporter
TWO Air Force of Zimbabwe parachute jumpers died yesterday while five others were injured during a training session at Manyame Airbase. AFZ public relations officer Squadron Leader Simon Matingwina said the accident occurred while the

parachutists were jumping from a Casa 212 aircraft.

The names of the deceased were being withheld until their next of kin are informed.
Squadron Leader Matingwina said the five who were injured were admitted at Manyame Airbase Hospital and are in a stable condition.
AFZ Commander Air Marshal Perrance Shiri conveyed his condolences to the families of the deceased.

He said the AFZ had lost dedicated and brave members.
“It is indeed a sad day for the AFZ and indeed the nation after we have learnt of the passing on of two of our members during a parachute training exercise,” he said.

“On behalf of the AFZ and indeed on my own behalf, I would like to convey condolences to the families of the deceased members.”

ASVINGO -Three armoured vehicles, known as Pumas, being transported on a South African-registered haulage trucks from Pretoria arrived in Harare yesterday, lending credence to reports that Zimbabwe had bought arms of war from its southern neighbour.
The camouflaged vehicles — used for quelling mass uprisings and demonstrations — caused a stir at around 5pm along Robert Mugabe Road in Masvingo as they passed though the city under heavy police escort on Monday.

NewsDay spotted the vehicles driving along Seke Road in Harare yesterday morning.

South Africa on Monday disclosed it had sold Harare arms of war worth R2,25 million in July this year.

The startling disclosures were allegedly contained in the latest quarterly report of the South African National Conventional Arms Control Committee. The sale of the arms caused an uproar as the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) claimed there was a moratorium not to sale arms to Zimbabwe and other countries with “political complications”.

The DA described the deal as illegal, but the South African government has not yet officially responded to the reports. The European Union and United States maintain arms sales embargoes against Zimbabwe.

Meanwhile, President Robert Mugabe’s inclusive government partners yesterday said they were not aware of the deal which they suspect could have been secretly sealed to prevent public demonstrations.

MDC deputy spokesperson Kurauone Chihwayi said: “We were not consulted as a party and we are not aware of the deal. We don’t know who negotiated that deal. Unless it was discussed at Cabinet level, we are not aware and we are not part of that.”

MDC-T spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora said: “We are not aware of that development and I do not think it was a Cabinet decision. We were not part of it.”

Any more photo's surfaced of the Zimbabwe Mig-23's yet?

Those "SF 260's" in formation look suspiciously like SAAF PC7-Mk2's.

A Zimbabwean Government official today denied reports that the country had bought 12 MIG-29 jet fighters from the Soviet Union.

The official, Ernest Kadungure, Minister of State for Defense, said in Parliament that the reports about the purchase of MIG-29's were mere ''rumors and speculation.''

But Mr. Kadungure did not specify if such a sale was being negotiated or if it had been discussed and then rejected.

The reports in the Zimbabwean and foreign press, quoting unidentified United States sources, said Zimbabwe wanted the jet fighters as defense against possible air attacks from South Africa. The reports said the agreement would involve 180 Soviet military advisers to fly and maintain the jets and would cost about $385 million.

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The African nation of Zimbabwe has been negotiating with the Soviet Union to purchase a squadron of advanced MiG-29 Fulcrum jet fighters, administration officials said today.

The officials, who agreed to discuss the matter only if not identified, said it was not yet clear to U.S. intelligence agencies whether an agreement between Russia and Zimbabwe actually had been worked out.

''But we know there have been talks and that Zimbabwe wants to buy,'' said one source.

''They supposedly want to beef up their air defenses against South Africa.''

State Department spokeswoman Phyllis Oakley said ''we canot confirm these reports. If they are true, then we would certainly have concerns about the political, military and financial implications for Zimbabwe and for the southern Africa region as a whole.''

Asked what ''financial'' concerns would be aroused, she said, ''I think it means the terms of payment ... the price and how they would pay for it.''

The Reagan administration cut aid to Zimbabwe last summer to protest anti- American comments made by a cabinet officer in a speech to a gathering - including former President Jimmy Carter - at a July 4th party at the U.S. Embassy.

Of $20.5 million in aid scheduled for delivery in the fiscal year that ended last Sept. 30, $13.5 million was withheld and no appropriation was made for fiscal year 1987.

At the same time, Zimbabwe is benefitting from U.S. aid to a regional organization of southern African countries.

The London Sunday Telegraph, quoting unidentified U.S. sources, reported that Zimbabwe Prime Minister Robert Mugabe was spending $324 million and pledging cash crops for 12 of the advanced fighters.

The paper said Zimbabwe would soon start sending pilots to Russia for flight training and expected to receive the new planes by the middle of next year.

The MiG-29 Fulcrum is one of the most advanced of all Soviet fighters. It is described by the Pentagon as ''a significant wartime air-superiority threat.''

The twin-engine Fulcrum resembles the F-15 Eagle in many respects and is said to be equipped with radar that allows the plane to engage aircraft or cruise missiles flying below it.

The Soviet Union, like the United States, has a stripped-down export version of most of its advanced planes, however. The administration sources said today that any deal with Zimbabwe would almost certainly involve a less- capable plane than that flown by the Soviet air force.

Nonetheless, a source said, ''such a plane would be so much more advanced than what they have now that this is bound to be a matter of great interest to South Africa.''

Zimbabwe, among the more hostile of South Africa's black-ruled neighbors, currently has only about 25 operational aircraft in its air force, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

The institute, which annually charts the size of military forces around the world, says Zimbabwe currently has only about seven fighter aircraft. They are small, single-engine Hawk jet fighters, a British plane that was originally designed in the early 1970s.

Meanwhile, South African Defense Minister Gen. Magnus Malan said today that Zimbabwe does not need advanced Soviet fighter planes because Zimbabwe is not threatened, internally or externally.

Malan told Beeld, an Afrikaans-language daily newspaper, that the Soviet Union has supplied unnecessary sophisticated weapons to other countries in southern Africa.

The Telegraph quoted its sources as saying a group of black Zimbabwean pilots would leave within weeks for Moscow for the start of training. The paper said no white Zimbabwean pilots, many of whom are veterans of the Rhodesian Air Force when the country was under white rule, would be allowed to fly the planes.

South Africa currently dominates the region in military force, particularly in the area of combat aircraft. According to the institute, South Africa has more than 370 combat aircraft, including several squadrons of French-made Mirage jet fighters.

I have seen 3 only!

Harare – A Cessna Caravan with the US registration of N20564, arrived at Charles Prince Airport, Harare, recently surrounded to come extent in something of a mystery as, according to the FAA registry, it had been exported from the US to the Peoples Republic of China. The aircraft arrived in Zimbabwe from Maputo, Mozambique, with just under 100 hours total time in its logbook. It is the only aircraft now registered in Zimbabwe boasting full G1000 glass cockpit. Less than two weeks after its arrival, the aircraft was flying again, under its new registration of ZAJI. It is apparently owned by Anjin, one of the companies involved in diamond mining in the controversial Marange/Chiadzwa area. However, as quietly as it appeared on the scene in Zimbabwe, so it seems to have disappeared. When heard on the radio the crew called only with estimates for their destination, not naming where they were going. It is rumoured to be hangared at Manyame Air Force base, which shares the Harare International Airport runway. It is currently flown by a civilian pilot, though rumour has it that it will soon be crewed by the Air Force of Zimbabwe.