US embassy cable - 04HARARE445

C O N F I D E N T I A L HARARE 000445 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF, AF/S, AND AF/PD 
NSC FOR SENIOR DIRECTOR FRAZER 
YAOUNDE PLEASE PASS MALABO 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/12/2008 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, MOPS, PINS, ASEC, ZI, EK 
SUBJECT: SOUTH AFRICAN TAKE ON THWARTED COUP ATTEMPT 
 
REF: A) HARARE 417 B) HARARE 435 C) YAOUNDE 381 
 
Classified By: DCM REWhitehead due to 1.5 (b) and (d). 
 
1.  (c) Ambassador and DCM met with South African Ambassador 
Jeremiah Ndou on March 11 to exchange perspectives on the 
detention of 70 purported mercenaries in Harare on March 7. 
Ndou provided a list of names, nationalities and passport 
numbers and confirmed that all 70 had been resident in South 
Africa, many of them dual nationals.  He confirmed that the 
South African Government had been aware of the intentions of 
this group in advance of their arrest.  The said that the 
Zimbabweans became suspicious when two of the mercenaries 
attempting to procure arms in Zimbabwe changed their story 
about the proposed end use of this material.  He said that 
the group intended to travel first to Equatorial Guinea in 
support of a coup, then onward to DRC to dispose of some of 
the arms to a group near Mbuji Mayi, and finally on to 
Burundi for unspecified purposes. 
 
2.  (c) Ndou commiserated with us the GOZ's attempt to make 
propaganda hay from this incident by claiming that the US and 
UK were involved.  He also that the event had shifted the 
focus from internal politics, to the satisfaction of the GOZ. 
 Ndou discounted Foreign Minister Mudenge's comments on 
capital punishment as the usual grandstanding, since the GOZ 
knew that the detainees could at worst be charged with making 
a false declaration.  He said that the mercenaries would 
appear in court today for preliminary hearings.  Ndou 
observed that the decision to seek arms in Zimbabwe was one 
of worst imaginable. 
 
3.  (c) Comment.  Ndou said that he expects the tempest to 
calm by next week, an assessment that we share, although the 
GOZ may well seek to prolong coverage of the incident, 
including charges of US and UK involvement, to distract the 
world from Zimbabwe's simmering internal problems. 
SULLIVAN