Weapons sales fueling conflict

An “international arms bazaar” of ex-eastern bloc military equipment is helping fuel conflicts in southern Africa, regional security analysts told IRIN. As eastern European countries cut back on defence spending, surplus military hardware at knock-down prices is readily available - it can even be ordered on the Internet - and is transported to local flash points with little fear of scrutiny, the analysts said. A 1950s-era T-55 main battle tank can be bought for as little as US $30,000. Among the main suppliers of cheap but deadly military equipment is Bulgaria, according to a recent report by Human Rights Watch. During the Cold War Bulgaria’s arms industry was the “cornerstone of the national economy,” the report said. To maintain hard currency flows and avoid job losses, either covertly or through legitimate sales, Bulgaria’s export-orientated arms business has attempted to cash in on international conflicts. The report, ‘Money Talks - Arms Dealing With Human Rights Abusers’ alleged that in the mid- to late 1990s, Bulgaria “exported, transported, or transhipped arms to conflict areas, particularly in Africa, and its weapons continued to make their way to abusive military forces, including government forces and rebel groups.” Arms sales in the southern African region have frequently been brokered by South African middlemen, the analysts added. Human Rights Watch claimed that Bulgaria has supplied both the Angolan government and, in breach of UN sanctions, the rebel UNITA movement. The report noted that UNITA delegations travelled to Bulgaria in 1998 and in January 1999, “purportedly for ‘sightseeing’ purposes but in all probability to arrange arms deals.” According to media reports, a captured UNITA officer claimed earlier this year that UNITA was able to mount its rearmament drive with Bulgarian military equipment transiting through unnamed African countries. Luanda has alleged that Bulgarian weapons have reached UNITA through Uganda, a claim refuted by Kampala. Zambia has also repeatedly denied a role in assisting UNITA with weapons supplies, while the Mozambican government in 1997 said it would investigate reports that Bulgarian arms were transiting through the country to UNITA bases in Angola. It has not yet made public its findings, the report added.