HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - The U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe was detained for a half hour after allegedly trespassing in a restricted area near President Robert Mugabe's official residence, the government said Thursday.
Zimbabwe officials said they sent a formal letter of protest to the U.S. Embassy Thursday, complaining about the actions of Ambassador Christopher Dell. State radio said that Dell was "trying to provoke an unwarranted diplomatic incident" by approaching the restricted security area in Harare's National Botanical Gardens. It said the viewing area was guarded by armed troops.
Dell was held for 30 minutes Monday night and then released, according to the government statement. News of the incident didn't emerge until the government statement Thursday. The ambassador and other American envoys couldn't immediately be reached for comment. The State Department in Washington did not immediately return calls for comment.
The viewing area was banned to the general public shortly after 1980 independence when shots were fired at the residence from a passing car, and security in the area greatly intensified. It is not fenced off but scrawled messages on rocks warn visitors "save your life - do not come up here." Mugabe, who has three other palaces residences in and around the capital, reportedly only seldom uses the rambling colonial mansion that was the home of formerly named Rhodesia's white prime ministers between 1923 and 1979. |