The Zimbabwean government on Tuesday said it has summoned a top US envoy to protest its foreign minister being denied diplomatic privileges at New York’s John F. Kennedy airport.
Zimbabwean Foreign Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi was denied VIP status at the airport after attending the United Nations General Assembly a week ago, the Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs Joey Bimha said.
Bimha confirmed that US Ambassador to Zimbabwe Bruce Wharton was summoned by the ministry on Monday. The US is yet to explain the “ill-treatment and harassment of Minister Mumbengegwi,” Zimbabwean state media said.
It is the second time that Zimbabwe protests the unfair treatment of its delegation to the UN General Assembly this year. The Foreign Ministry earlier said the US “harassed” the delegation headed by President Robert Mugabe by reminding the team not to travel beyond the 40 km radius of the U.N. headquarters.
Zimbabwe has a strained relation with the United States. Mugabe and senior members of the ruling Zanu-PF party have been placed under a decade-old travel ban by Washington over “alleged” assault on human rights and rule of law.
Mugabe’s party said the ‘illegal sanctions’, which are targeted at individuals and companies in Mugabe’s inner circle have taken a heavy toll on the economy and the life of ordinary Zimbabweans.
In a strong note, the 89-year-old veteran leader said in his speech to the U.N. General Assembly that “shame, shame, shame to the United States of America. Shame, shame, shame to Britain and its allies”, urging them to remove the “filthy and illegal” sanctions.
