A member of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s regime was detained late on Friday as he attempted to board a flight at London’s Gatwick airport, the British Foreign Office said.
The detained man is Joshua Malinga, the deputy secretary for the disabled.
”A Zimbabwean national on the EU travel ban list was detained while trying to pass through immigration at Gatwick airport en route to New York, which was quite clearly in breach of sanctions,” a Foreign Office representative said.
Malinga, a wheelchair-user, may have been en route to a conference for the disabled in the United States, the BBC World Service said.
”The UK and our partners in Europe have introduced a travel ban on the ruling elite in Zimbabwe because they have imposed on the people of Zimbabwe a man-made disaster,” the Foreign Office said.
”We have no intention of making an exception in this case. The way to end the travel ban is to end the policies that prompted it.”
The European Union imposed ”targeted sanctions” against Zimbabwe after Mugabe refused to let European observers monitor the presidential elections in February.
Just 20 people were initially subject to a range of measures, including the travel ban.
However, the 52 new names, including first lady Grace Mugabe, were added at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday.
There has long been concern about Mugabe’s suppression of his opponents but there are fresh fears at what appears to be a deteriorating situation.
Mugabe’s policy of handing over land from white farmers to the black groups from which he draws his powerbase is thought to be having a devastating effect on what was once one of Africa’s agricultural success stories.
This, coupled with corruption, economic mismanagement and a drought, is feared to be driving Zimbabwe into famine.
The EU sanctions include the stopping of 77-million pounds ($120,5-million, 122-million euros) of development aid and a freeze on Zimbabwean assets in Europe.
Britain, Zimbabwe’s former colonial master, has been at the forefront of calls for action against the Mugabe regime. – Sapa-AFP