LIBYA’S ambassador to Zimbabwe is expected to leave the country on Friday at the expiry of a 72-hour deadline to leave after he was stripped of his diplomatic status for declaring allegiance with the rebels who have seized power in Tripoli.
Ambassador Taher Elmagrahi lowered the green-coloured flag flying outside the Libyan mission in downtown Harare and helped protesters raise the rebels’ flag.
He also wrote to Zimbabwe's Foreign Ministry to denounce ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi while aligning himself with the rebels.
The green flag, synonymous with Gaddafi’s rule, has since been put back but the gesture has failed to soften Zimbabwe's stance.
The decision to expel Elmagrahi has been criticised by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T party in the ruling coalition, but Zanu PF – which has the Foreign Affairs portfolio – and the MDC led by Welshman Ncube insist it is the right step.
He said: “At international law, Ambassador Elmagrahi placed himself in an untenable position. Whatever predicament he finds himself in is entirely of his own making in terms of international law and diplomacy.
“His position is made worse by the fact that the Zimbabwean government as of now has not yet recognised the Transitional Council which is in control or appears to be in control of Libya. You cannot represent an entity which is not recognised by the state which you are accredited to. He placed himself in a no man’s land at law.”
Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi announced the move to expel the envoy on Tuesday.
“The Libyan ambassador and his staff decided to renounce their allegiance to the government of Colonel Gaddafi. This act deprives the Libyan ambassador and his staff of any diplomatic status in Zimbabwe because Zimbabwe does not recognise the TNC," Mumbengegwi told journalists.
"So it is in this context that the Libyan ambassador and his staff are required to leave Zimbabwe within the next 72 hours."
However, the Tsvangirai-led MDC-T objects – although it is powerless to stop the enforcement of the deportation.
The party’s spokesman Douglas Mwonzora said the move was a “high-handed and vindictive decision that we are totally against.”