OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Saturday 3.50pm.
A ZAMBIAN separatist leader who fled to the South African High Commission in Lusaka last week after being linked to a rebel attack in Namibia has been arrested, Zambian police said Saturday.
Imasiku Mutangelwa, leader of the separatist Barotse Patriotic Front (BPF), was detained at the high commision late Friday after a warrant of arrest was issued by the Zambian High Court, police Inspector-General Francis Ndhlovu told Sapa.
Ndhlovu said the charges facing Mutangelwa were not related to the Namibian incident but were linked rather to allegations of “causing death by dangerous driving” in the western Zambian town of Mongu.
The court issued the warrant, he added, after Mutangelwa failed to appear before a court in Mongu on Thursday to answer the charges. The separatist leader would now be taken before the court concerned, he added.
The BPF, based in southwestern Zambia, has been accused of supporting rebels seeking independence for Namibia’s northeastern Caprivi province.
In their first armed attack, the Namibian rebels struck the main Caprivi centre of Katima Mulilo on August 2. At least 14 people were killed in clashes between the secessionists and security forces.
Mutangelwa fled to the South African High Commission saying he feared for his life after Zambian authorities started clamping down on the BPF.
Zambia immediately asked that the BPF leader be handed over to them.
A South African government official last week told AFP that as Pretoria does not support secession, it would be “very tricky” to give Mutangelwa asylum. — AFP