Zimbabwean authorities said on Monday that they had impounded a US-registered cargo plane after its owners lied about the presence of 64 men suspected of being mercenaries and about military equipment on board.
The Boeing 727-100 cargo plane was seized on Sunday night at the international airport in Harare, Zimbabwe's capital, the home affairs minister, Kembo Mohadi, told reporters.
Spokesmen for the US Department of State and the Pentagon said they had no indication that the plane was connected to the US government.
The incident occurred less than a week after the US tightened economic sanctions against Zimbabwe's government, saying it was undermining the rule of law and fostering political violence. American officials threatened further strictures if Zimbabwe's leaders continued to resist efforts to resolve the country's deepening political crisis.
The plane seized on Sunday landed at the Harare airport for refueling about 5 pm, according to civil aviation officials. They said the aircraft appeared to be privately owned and under charter. Crew members said only three people were on board, the officials said.
Mohadi said, "The plane was actually carrying 64 suspected mercenaries of various nationalities." He said an investigation was under way to determine their identities and destination.
Video images on state-run television on Monday showed backpacks, an inflatable raft and paddles inside the plane, but no weapons. State television also reported that the passengers and crew members, all of them men and most of them white, had been taken to a nearby military base.
DEADLOCK: Putin has vowed to continue fighting unless Ukraine cedes more land, while talks have been paused with no immediate results expected, the Kremlin said Russia on Friday said that peace talks with Kyiv were on “pause” as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin still wanted to capture the whole of Ukraine. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said that he was running out of patience with Putin, and the NATO alliance said it would bolster its eastern front after Russian drones were shot down in Polish airspace this week. The latest blow to faltering diplomacy came as Russia’s army staged major military drills with its key ally Belarus. Despite Trump forcing the warring sides to hold direct talks and hosting Putin in Alaska, there
North Korea has executed people for watching or distributing foreign television shows, including popular South Korean dramas, as part of an intensifying crackdown on personal freedoms, a UN human rights report said on Friday. Surveillance has grown more pervasive since 2014 with the help of new technologies, while punishments have become harsher — including the introduction of the death penalty for offences such as sharing foreign TV dramas, the report said. The curbs make North Korea the most restrictive country in the world, said the 14-page UN report, which was based on interviews with more than 300 witnesses and victims who had
COMFORT WOMEN CLASH: Japan has strongly rejected South Korean court rulings ordering the government to provide reparations to Korean victims of sexual slavery The Japanese government yesterday defended its stance on wartime sexual slavery and described South Korean court rulings ordering Japanese compensation as violations of international law, after UN investigators criticized Tokyo for failing to ensure truth-finding and reparations for the victims. In its own response to UN human rights rapporteurs, South Korea called on Japan to “squarely face up to our painful history” and cited how Tokyo’s refusal to comply with court orders have denied the victims payment. The statements underscored how the two Asian US allies still hold key differences on the issue, even as they pause their on-and-off disputes over historical
CONSOLIDATION: The Indonesian president has used the moment to replace figures from former president Jokowi’s tenure with loyal allies In removing Indonesia’s finance minister and U-turning on protester demands, the leader of Southeast Asia’s biggest economy is scrambling to restore public trust while seizing a chance to install loyalists after deadly riots last month, experts say. Demonstrations that were sparked by low wages, unemployment and anger over lawmakers’ lavish perks grew after footage spread of a paramilitary police vehicle running over a delivery motorcycle driver. The ensuing riots, which rights groups say left at least 10 dead and hundreds detained, were the biggest of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s term, and the ex-general is now calling on the public to restore their
RSS