Beijing was told "to refrain from making additional shipments and, if possible, to bring this one back," department spokesman Tom Casey said, referring to a Chinese ship loaded with arms intended for Zimbabwe and now reportedly headed to Angola.

Washington has also asked Angola and Zimbabwe's other neighbors, including South Africa, Mozambique and Namibia, not to allow the ship, identified as the An Yue Jiang, to dock or offload the weapons.

"We don't think that under the present circumstances given the current political crisis in Zimbabwe that now is the time for anyone to be increasing the number of weapons and armaments available in that country," Casey said.

China on Tuesday defended the shipment, saying it was part of normal bilateral trade, but suggested the arms might not be delivered due to problems offloading the cargo.

"This is normal trade in military products between the two countries. The relevant contract was signed last year and has nothing to do with the situation in Zimbabwe," Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters in Beijing.

"As Zimbabwe could not receive the cargo as scheduled, China Ocean Shipping Corp had to give up the Durban port and is now considering carrying back this cargo," she said, referring to the state-owned COSCO shipping firm.

There is no UN imposed arms embargo on Zimbabwe.

But Casey said that the United States "would hope that it would be clear to the Chinese" that given the instability in Zimbabwe and "real and visibe" abuses committed by its security forces, providing additional weapons "is something which is not necessary right now."

The An Yue Jiang was carrying three million rounds of assault rifle ammunition, 3,000 mortar rounds and 1,500 rocket-propelled grenades, according to its inventory, published by a South African newspaper.

The ship was forced to abandon plans to offload the arms in the South African port of Durban last week after activists won a court case which prevented it from transporting the load overland to the Zimbabwe border.

There were fears that the arms could be used to crack down on protests following parliamentary and presidential elections in Zimbabwe last month, both of which the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says it won.

The shipment was also likely to inflame a debate about China's growing diplomatic and economic role in Africa, which has focussed on the country's links with the Sudanese government, accused of human rights abuses in Darfur.

The State Department's top Africa hand, Jendayi Frazer, meanwhile flies to the region this week to highlight the deepening post-election turmoil in Zimbabwe.

The results of a March 29 presidential election have still to be announced.

The situation in Zimbabwe would be a "major element of discussions" between Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Frazer and leaders of the countries she would visit -- South Africa, Zambia and Angola, Casey said.

Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has proclaimed himself victor over incumbent Robert Mugabe in presidential elections and called for UN intervention in the dispute.

Tsvangirai, who is in Ghana, risks arrest for treason if he returns home.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon denounced the failure of the Zimbabwean authorities to release election results as unacceptable.

related report
China defends Zimbabwe arms shipment headed for Angola
A Chinese ship loaded with arms intended for Zimbabwe was headed to Angola, the agent handling the ship said on Tuesday, as China defended the shipment against international criticism.

"According to the documentation, the next calling port is Angola. This vessel is causing a lot of attention. The information is very sensitive," said Wang Kun Hui, representative of the Cosren shipping agency in Durban.

Asked where exactly in Angola the ship was headed, Wang replied: "Luanda."

The ship, the An Yue Jiang, was carrying three million rounds of assault rifle ammunition, 3,000 mortar rounds and 1,500 rocket-propelled grenades, according to its inventory, published by a South African newspaper.

The ship was forced to abandon plans to offload the arms in the South African port of Durban last week after activists won a court case which prevented it from transporting the load overland to the Zimbabwe border.

There were fears that the arms could be used to crack down on protests following parliamentary and presidential elections in Zimbabwe last month, both of which the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says it won.

The shipment was also likely to inflame a debate about China's growing diplomatic and economic role in Africa, which has focussed on the country's links with the Sudanese government, accused of human rights abuses in Darfur.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu on Tuesday defended the shipment, saying she hoped there would be no attempt to "politicise" the arms cargo, although she hinted that China may be forced to take it back.

"This is normal trade in military products between the two countries. The relevant contract was signed last year and has nothing to do with the situation in Zimbabwe," she told reporters in Beijing.

"As Zimbabwe could not receive the cargo as scheduled, China Ocean Shipping Corp had to give up the Durban port and is now considering carrying back this cargo," she said, referring to the state-owned COSCO shipping firm.

Zimbabwe's ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party, battling to stay in power after last month's disputed elections, has also defended the regime's right to buy weapons from any legal source.

"It's our sovereign right to defend ourselves, it's our sovereign right to buy weapons from any legitimate source worldwide and we don't need clearance from anyone," Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said earlier.

Port authorities in Angola, where President Jose Eduardo dos Santos is a long-time ally of Zimbabwe's veteran leader Robert Mugabe, said on Monday they had not yet received any formal request for authorisation to dock the ship.

Were the weapons to be offloaded in Angola, they would then most likely have to be flown into landlocked Zimbabwe as the countries' common neighbour Zambia is strongly opposed to the arms reaching Harare.

Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, head of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which is mediating in the political crisis in Zimbabwe, said he was "glad" that South Africa had refused the shipment.

"The Chinese can play a very useful role in Zimbabwe without the use of arms. We don't want to escalate the situation in Zimbabwe more than what it is," Mwanawasa was quoted as saying by state media on Tuesday.

Human rights lawyers in Namibia, which lies between South Africa and Angola and where the ship could be forced to stop for refuelling, said they would prevent any possible unloading of the arms in Namibian ports.

International trade unions have mounted a campaign to stop the ship from unloading its arms cargo and the Southern Africa Litigation Centre said it was tracking the ship through South Africa's territorial waters.

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