The Zimbabwean government has blasted Swedish Ambassador to Zimbabwe Sten Rylander for double standards following revelations that he had tried to persuade MDC- T leader Morgan Tsvangirai to return to Zimbabwe from Botswana, The Herald said on Thursday.
Secretary for Information and Publicity George Charamba on Wednesday slammed Rylander for trying to be righteous yet his country was pushing for illegal regime change in Zimbabwe.
Rylander revealed at a press conference on Wednesday in Harare that he had tried to persuade the opposition MDC-T leader to return home and that the government should give him a passport.
Tsvangirai has been staying in Botswana for months now, claiming he cannot return home because he does not have a passport.
"I told him to come back but he maintains he cannot travel because he lacks a travel document," Rylander said.
He said it was possible for ruling Zanu-PF and the opposition MDC formations to finalize on "outstanding issues" over the power-sharing agreement.
Rylander claimed that Sweden was against United Nations intervention in Zimbabwe.
"That (UN intervention) is the last resort. SADC (the Southern African Development Coummunity) and the Africa Union (AU) should help solve this crisis. We are encouraging the formation of an inclusive Government," he said.
But Charamba scoffed at Rylander's double standards, accusing him of trying to play the righteous.
"He is a bad ambassador, plain and simple," Charamba said.
He said alongside the American and British ambassadors, Rylander wanted the UN to intervene in Zimbabwe.
"Their plan for intervention has come to grief partly because they have no nerve for war here. He (Rylander) should not sound like he is doing us a favour by appearing not to want intervention," Charamba said.
Charamba said Tsvangirai breached the time scale of his emergency travelling document and is now scared to return home.
"He (Tsvangirai) does not need a passport to cross the borders of Morocco, Senegal, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. He needs a passport, what more a diplomatic passport, to cross the border of Zimbabwe, his homeland," he said.
"It's plain silly. The truth of the matter is that he has breached the time scale of his ETD and thinks the government may arrest him. There is neither rhyme nor reason to his argument," Charamba said.
He said Tsvangirai refused to travel to Swaziland on an ETD but used the same document to travel to Botswana.
In October, Tsvangirai refused to travel to Swaziland for a meeting with Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and four other regional leaders demanding a passport and not an ETD.
"He left the country on an ETD which he now finds inadequate to bring him back. I wish someone would explain to me what it means," Charamba said. |
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