Zimbabwe's foreign minister has told Western ambassadors that they will be expelled from the country if they give support to opposition activists. Diplomats said the United States ambassador walked out of the meeting at which the warning was delivered after Simearashe Mbengegwi, the foreign minister, refused to answer any questions. "I warned them ... that any ambassador or member of their diplomatic staff who violates these two articles of the Vienna Conventions, the government of Zimbabwe will not hesitate to invoke the provisions of those articles ... that relates to their expulsion," Mbengegwi told Al Jazeera. | I have a suggestion: let's break relations and tell the world we no longer recognize the Mugabe government as legitimate. |
Mbengegwi also accused the officials of supporting the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) of Morgan Tsvangirai, who was allegedly beaten by police after his arrest at a prayer meeting on March 11. "We had the police being attacked left, right and centre ... not a single condemnation of this kind of terrorism and violence from the opposition has come from any of the Western ambassadors," he said.