Botswana has expressed its deep disappointment over the continued detention of the three wildlife officers in Zimbabwe despite attempts at finding an amicable diplomatic solution to the affair.

A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in view of the stance taken by the Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe to rebuff all attempts by the Government of Botswana to find diplomatic and amicable solution to the problem, Botswana has taken a decision to recall its Defence and Intelligence Attachés from Zimbabwe by the end of February 2010.

“The Government of the Republic of Botswana expects the Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe to reciprocate by recalling its Defence and Central Intelligence Organisation Attachés from Botswana by the same date. The position of the Government of Botswana is that these two posts should be frozen and never to be filled,” the statement said.

The statement said that efforts by Botswana have included phone calls by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Phandu Skelemani, and the Botswana Police Commissioner, Thebeyame Tsimako, to their counterparts in Zimbabwe to resolve this issue.

These phone calls remained un-returned, giving the impression that the Government of Zimbabwe did not want to discuss this issue with Botswana, it added.

Botswana said as a last endeavor, Vice President Mompati Merafhe attempted, through the Foreign Minister of Zimbabwe, to meet with President Mugabe at the recently held African Union meeting in Addis Ababa Ethiopia but was unsuccessful.

Source African Press Agency

African News from NetNewsPublisher.com

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