The ship carrying weapons to Zimbabwe may return to China after being prevented from unloading in South Africa, a Chinese official has said.Zambia's president has called on other African countries not to let the ship enter their waters, in case the arms escalate post-election tensions.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said the weapons were ordered last year and were "perfectly normal".
But she said the ship's owners were considering bringing the ship back.
Ms Jiang said this was because it was proving impossible for Zimbabwe to receive the arms but this has not been confirmed by the Chinese shipping company.
The Chinese vessel was said to be bound for Angola but the US is reported to be pressuring port authorities there and in Namibia not to allow them to dock.
Zambia's President Levy Mwanawasa said: "I hope this will be the case with all the countries because we don't want a situation which will escalate the [tension] in Zimbabwe more than what it is."
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