VZCZCXRO3943
PP RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHLU #0338 1231200
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 021200Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY LUANDA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4766
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY PRIORITY

UNCLAS LUANDA 000338 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV AO ZI
SUBJECT: ALL QUIET ON ZIMBABWE AS MOMENTUM SHIFTS TO MUGABE 
 
REF: A) LUANDA 331 B) LUANDA 254 
 
¶1. (U) One week after the visit of A/S Frazer and NSC Senior 
Director Bobby Pittman to Angola to consult with President 
Dos Santos (ref A) on the issue of Zimbabwe, the GRA has yet 
to make a public statement on the crisis.  News reports in 
the state run press have been minimalist, focused on the 
progress made toward releasing electoral results and the 
possibility of a run-off.  Independent weekly journals have 
offered very little analysis to counter the perception of 
normalcy in Zimbabwe promoted in the state run press. 
 
¶2. (SBU) No official statement has been made recently 
concerning the An Yue Jiang, the Chinese ship carrying arms 
for Zimbabwe and other merchandise for Angola.  Unverified 
reports around the diplomatic circuit here say the ship has 
already docked in Luanda and off loaded its cargo.  According 
to one unverified report accredited by our source to the U.S. 
Embassy in Harare, the Zimbabwean arms were off loaded and 
were to be flown to Harare.  Other unverified reports from 
international press stringers suggest the GRA or an 
independent actor in Angola purchased the Zimbabwean arms 
(thus complying with the President's order not to off load 
Zimbabwean arms) in order to sell them to the highest bidder, 
potentially including Zimbabwe.  We have no evidence to 
support any of the assertions of these unverified reports. 
 
¶3. (U) Officials from the troika countries (Angola, Tanzania, 
and Swaziland) of the SADC Organ for Politics, Defense, and 
Security are to meet in Luanda on May 2-4 to discuss 
political issues in Zimbabwe, Lesotho, and the Democratic 
Republic of the Congo.  Post will monitor the meetings and 
report significant developments. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Comment: Zimbabwe's electoral crisis is evolving in 
line with GRA hopes for an outcome legally keeping Mugabe and 
the ZANU-PF in power (as described (ref B) to the Ambassador 
by Vice Minister for External Relations Jorge Chicoti on 
March 30).  We assess Angola will not be in the forefront of 
any push to alter the current trajectory of the crisis. 
MOZENA