Confusion over helicopter claims

Swaziland has impounded two Rwandan military helicopters in the country for the past two years because it claims Swazi airspace was violated when they arrived, according to a BBC report. The crated helicopters are currently being looked after by the air division of the Swazi army at Matsapha International airport. The report quoted a source as saying they were impounded due to the “questionable way” they were brought into the country. Swazi officials were unavailable for comment when IRIN contacted the foreign ministry on Thursday. However, Rwandan ambassador to South Africa and Swaziland, Joseph Karemera, told IRIN that the report probably refered to two Alouette helicopters inherited from the former regime that were flown to Swaziland in 1998: “We put them in containers for selling or fixing up”. Another embassy official said the helicopters should have been flown to South Africa, but the transporters dropped them off at the Matsapha airport. “It’s the carriers mistake. They’ve been there for two years. We’ve talked to the government of Swaziland and agreed that it our property.” He added that he was surprised by the BBC report. “I had meetings with the chief of the air force, we have correspondence with them. We have just been waiting for a permit for their assessment in South Africa,” which he said had been delayed because of the “sensitivity” of the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Karemera denied claims by the Pretoria-based Institute of Security Studies (ISS) that the report referred to two Mi-25 helicopter gunships bought cheaply from Belarus two years ago but which needed extensive refurbishment. An ISS researcher told IRIN the work had been subcontracted by a Swazi company to a South African firm specialising in former eastern bloc equipment. But the ambassador insisted that any equipment bought by the government includes a maintenance contract with the suppliers: “South Africa does not sell these gadgets, why subcontract?”