The Hindu : International : Mugabe warns Western diplomats

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 21, 2007
ePaper

International

International

Mugabe warns Western diplomats

Andrew Meldrum

Johannesburg: Zimbabwe's Foreign Minister summoned western diplomats to a meeting on Monday to warn them they would be expelled if they gave financial or diplomatic support to Opposition activists.

Simbarashe Mumbengegwi said President Robert Mugabe would not hesitate to kick out any diplomats who interfered in Zimbabwe's domestic politics.

``I summoned the ambassadors, and I told them that Zimbabwe will not allow any interference in its internal affairs and that those who are going to continue funding and supporting this programme will be expelled,'' he said during a ZTV news bulletin in the local Shona language reported by Reuters.

Diplomats who attended the meeting said the U.S. ambassador, Christopher Dell, a critic of Zimbabwe's human rights abuses, walked out, dismissing the meeting as a ``sham'' and a ``propaganda exercise for the state press'', which was filming the event.

The meeting came as the U.S. State Department released a statement calling on Mr. Mugabe to ``allow all Zimbabweans the right to live without fear and to fully participate in the political process''.

It said Mr. Mugabe would be held ``personally responsible'' for the arrests and beatings of Opposition politicians.

Dozens of opposition activists, including Morgan Tsvangirai, were beaten after being arrested on their way to a prayer rally last week.

``President Mugabe clearly fears a free and open political debate in his country and is therefore willing to use violence to suppress all those who oppose him. Ultimately, he will be held accountable by the people of Zimbabwe and by the world,'' the U.S. statement concluded.

In Harare, Mr. Mumbengegwi told the diplomats that the Vienna convention prohibited foreign embassies from involving themselves in the internal affairs of a host nation.

He said some diplomats had ``gone too far'', and offered food and water to Opposition activists jailed last week.

``Attending public court proceedings, meeting with members of Parliament and travelling through the country, these are well within the bounds of the Vienna convention and are completely normal in most countries,'' said a diplomatic source in Harare.

``Providing food and water to people who have been brutalised in jail and who were deprived medical care and food, that is an act of human kindness that is entirely defensible.

``Expelling any embassy would only further isolate the Mugabe Government and would have serious consequences, even the Mugabe Government knows that.''

Amid growing signs of the repression in Zimbabwe, lawyers reported on Monday that they had been told by police that they could ``disappear'' or suffer violent attacks if they continued to represent the jailed Opposition leaders.

One lawyer, Andrew Makoni, delivered court orders to an assistant police commissioner on Sunday.

``He ripped the order in pieces, wadded it into a ball and threw it in my face and warned that if I came back to the police offices I would be arrested and thrown in jail''. ``We are hearing more of these warnings. They are trying to intimidate us,'' said Mr. Saki, of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.

— © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International