OWN CORRESPONDENT, Tipoli | Sunday 5.30pm.
ZIMBABWEAN President Robert Mugabe and his wife arrived in Libya on Saturday aboard a private aircraft in violation of the United Nations air embargo in effect against Tripoli since 1992. Radio news reports that Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi commended Mugabe for his “courage”.
Shortly after his arrival Mugabe met with Gaddafi and held discussions on the “latest developments on the African continent,” Libyan television said. The Zimbabwean president’s visit follows a decision this summer by the Organisation of African Unity to stop honouring the “unjust sanctions imposed against Libya,” Libyan television reported.
The OAU, frustrated by a deadlock in resolving the question of sanctions against Tripoli, decided at a summit in June to ignore the air embargo from September. Libya has been under UN sanctions for six years over its refusal to extradite the two Libyans suspected of the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, that left 270 people dead.
The number of African countries violating the air embargo has escalated sharply since September. The UN Security Council has expressed concern about the growing number of violations of the embargo. It voted unanimously on August 27 to suspend the sanctions if Libya delivers the two Lockerbie suspects to stand trial in the Netherlands, something Tripoli has thus far failed to do.