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Staff Reporter 15-08-08
Had it not been for Mr Mbeki’s intervention, Zimbabwe's main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and two party officials' passports had been confiscated at Harare International Airport on Thursday afternoon before preparing to board a flight to Johannesburg.
Tsvangirai, his party's Secretary General Tendai Biti and the Secretary for Foreign Relations Professor Mukonoweshuro were travelling to South Africa to attend the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) heads of states summit scheduled for Saturday.
It is not clear whether the opposition has been invited to Saturday's meeting.
Upon leaving the airport departure lounge, Tsvangirai said: "They have confiscated my passport. They said they are checking on something and we have missed our flight and I am no longer going for the SADC summit."
ZimEye could not ascertain the declared reason why the passports were confiscated but this could have easily been government's ploy to deny Tsvangirai from attending the summit following this week’s stalemate on the talks between the country's three main political parties.
According to a confidential SA diplomatic community senior official in Harare Mbeki quickly called Harare and spoke to Mugabe himself following the confiscation of the passports by immigration officials acting on the directive from Mugabe’s office.
“Mugabe promised to ensure the move was reversed and Tsvangirai would be allowed to travel.”
ZimEye confirmed that by 1900 hours on Thursday that Tsvangirai, Biti and Mukonoweshuro were now due to leave Harare International Airport in a South African Airways evening flight.
Zimbabwe's political crisis is most likely to take centre stage at the summit. Several SADC leaders have voiced over the outcome of the June 27 Presidential election in which President Mugabe was the sole candidate following the withdrawal of Tsvangirai citing violence against his supporters.
Denying Tsvangirai
travel to Saturday's summit is most likely going to put a dent on the ongoing
talks between
Zimbabwe's
political parties.