[archy]

Is that a PPS-43 he's armed with? If so, how did he get it? I thought those weapons only turned up in the Far East.

Either a Sudarev-designed PPS-43 or possibly the earlier PPS-42 version. As for its provenance, most any sort of weapon is liable to turn up most anywhere in Africa; the place is a collector's dream and an armourers and logistician's nightmare.

But the things also turned up in Rhodesia during the 1970s, and I believe were also used and possibly produced by the North Koreans for their airborne forces before being replaced with Kalishnikovs, making the surplus Sudarevs available as military aid to *National Liberation* movements- or paying customers with the right cash.

[Sparta]

Another question about African weapons, is it true that most of the various warlords try to buy M-16s because of the higher rate of fire and the increased damage a 5.56 x 45mm round does?