Zimbabwe's mines minister barred from Britain

Tuesday, June 23, 2009 at 6:26 AM Posted by Beijing News


HARARE, Zimbabwe – Britain has barred Zimbabwe's mines minister from attending an investment conference in London, state radio and British officials said Tuesday.

British officials in Harare said Obert Mpofu was denied a visa to travel to the African mining meeting where he was scheduled to make a speech Tuesday.

Mpofu is among politicians and leaders of President Robert Mugabe's party targeted under travel restrictions imposed by Britain, the European Union and the United States.

State radio said leaders of Mugabe's ZANU-PF party accused Western governments of arrogance for barring party members from participating in a re-engagement campaign led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, currently on a tour of Western capitals.

In London, Tsvangirai was scheduled to address the International Mining in Africa conference from which Mpofu was barred. The conference is focusing on investment opportunities in Zimbabwe.

Tsvangirai, a former opposition leader, has met leaders who have sharply criticized Mugabe. Tuesday's radio report was not the first sign the Mugabe faction has been irritated by the attention Tsvangirai is receiving.

After Tsvangirai met President Barack Obama earlier this month in Washington, Obama praised the premier for persevering in trying to lead Zimbabwe out of a "very dark and difficult period," and accused Mugabe of resisting democracy.

Zimbabwe's state-run Herald newspaper quoted Tourism Minister Walter Mzembi, a Mugabe appointee, as accusing Obama of being "overtly biased" and lacking "diplomatic courtesy."

The Sunday Mail, the Herald's sister paper, later reported Zimbabwe's information ministry was investigating whether a newsletter published by Tsvangirai's office broke the law by reporting on the prime minister's Western tour before he first discussed it with Cabinet colleagues.

Tsvangirai was expected back in Harare later this week.







A surfer catches a wave off of Kewalo Basin in Hawaii. AP Photo/Marco Garcia

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)