Botswana recalls Harare embassy staff

By _
for ZimEye.org

Published: February 7, 2010

BOTSWANA has escalated a diplomatic row over the three rangers arrested for entering Zimbabwe illegally by recalling some of its diplomats and requesting that Harare makes a like-for-like withdrawal of staff at its Gaborone embassy.

Botswana said it would recall its defence and intelligence attaches by the end of the month and asked that Harare withdraw its defence and central intelligence organisation personnel from its Gaborone embassy by the same date.

“The position of the Government of Botswana is that these two posts should be frozen and never to be filled,” the Botswana government said in statement added.

This came as the magistrate who presided over the officers’ three-day trial in the resort town of Victoria Falls reserved judgement and said he would announce his verdict on Monday.

“It means another weekend in jail for the three officers. They are wearing prison uniforms as we speak…,” moaned Botswana’s Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Gladys Kokorwe.

The saga has further strained already frosty relations between the neighbouring countries with Zimbabwe understood to be incensed at the mal-treatment its nationals and the Botswana government’s frequent public censure of President Robert Mugabe has ruffled Zanu PF furthers.

The rangers were arrested on January 19 after straying into Zimbabwe apparently on the trail of a lion the Botswana government says had terrorised residents of a village in the country’s Kazungula area.

Zimbabwe officials say the men drove into country using an undesignated point of entry and were later intercepted by border patrol officers as they tried to re-enter Botswana.

They were found not to possess passports while a search of their government Cruiser yielded a shotgun with seven live rounds of ammunition and a .375 Winchester rifle with 17 live rounds of ammunition.

The Botswana government has tried to gain their release using diplomatic channels but authorities in Zimbabwe insist the due process of the law “must follow its course”.

Botswana says entreaties by its foreign affairs Minister, Phandu Skelemani and the county’s commissioner of police to their Zimbabwean counterparts have been rebuffed with phone calls “going unreturned”.

“As a last endeavour … the Vice President, Lieutenant General Mompati Merafhe, attempted, through the Foreign Minister of Zimbabwe, to meet with President Mugabe at the recently held African Union meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia but was unsuccessful.

“In view of the stance taken by the Government of Zimbabwe to rebuff all attempts by the Government of Botswana to find diplomatic and amicable solution to the problem, Botswana has taken a decision to recall its Defence and Intelligence Attachés from Zimbabwe by the end of February 2010,” the Botswana government said. (Source: NewZimbabwe)

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Botswana recalls Harare embassy staff

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