American gunman killed, released in Zimbabwe

American gunman killed, released in Zimbabwe

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By Lindie Whiz

AN AMERICAN citizen arrested by police in Zimbabwe and charged with smuggling was free to leave the country after paying a fine, a U.S. embassy official said on Tuesday.

Zimbabwe's state radio has reported that Leslie Francis Howell Jr, from Florida, was arrested at Victoria Falls airport on Friday when he tried to board a plane with two pistols and 300 rounds of ammunition.

"He did appear in court and he was charged with two counts of smuggling," the U.S. embassy official, who declined to be named, said, adding Howell was free to leave the country.

"He was released after paying a 10 million Zimbabwe dollar fine (worth $333 on the official market but just $17 on the parallel market)," the official told Reuters after court proceedings in the northwestern town of Hwange.

Howell arrived in Harare on September 21 and had been travelling around the country armed until his arrest, said state broadcaster ZBC.

He was suspected of being "part of a ploy by the United States to scare off tourists and to depict Zimbabwe as an unsafe destination," the radio said.

US embassy spokesperson, Mark Weinberg, earlier said he understood the man was in Zimbabwe "on a hunting trip".

Zimbabwe is grappling with a severe economic crisis which critics blame on President Robert Mugabe's policies and has left the country with the world's highest inflation rate and surging unemployment.

Mugabe, 83, in power since independence from Britain in 1980, has accused Western powers, including the United States, of sabotaging the economy with sanctions. - Reuters

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