Mutambara to lose US citizenship
The US government could revoke MDC faction leader Arthur Mutambara’s United States Permanent Residence Permit which is valid up to 2017 amid growing concerns he is abetting Mugabe’s hold on to power.
The United states government’s Acting Deputy Spokesman Gonzalo R. Gallegos, told the state department’s state briefing earlier during the week,
‘We’re going to continue to watch. We’re going to continue to see what happens there. Ultimately, as I’ve said before, from here, what we want to see is that the will of the Zimbabwean people is reflected in the results of this or any talks that may take place to come to a resolution to this situation,and if anyone aids the subvetting of the people’s will even if they are not from ZANU PF will face the same measures we have taken against ZANU-PF.’ said Gallegos.
Mutambara reportedly dismissed MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s claim to power when he addressed the SADC leaders and claimed the he and President Mugabe should hold power.
Mutambara reportedly told the gathering that Mugabe who won the run-off should have executive power and his faction should hold key positions in the cabinet because they hold the balance of power in Parliament.
“The March 29 elections produced a hung parliament. We hold the key to power.’
“Whomever we decide to go with will have the majority in parliament. In these talks we are on our own. And anyone who thinks they have the majority in parliament is a joker. Nobody must take us for granted,” said Mutambara.
Sources at the US embassy in Harare say the US is watching closely Mutambara’s actions and say there is a general feeling he is aiding Mugabe’s divide and rule strategy.
Mutambara gloated and bragged last year to a group of Zimbabweans and journalists in the US among them The Zimbabwe Times‘s editor Geoff Nyarota that if his political career fails to work out he can always go back to work in the US because he has a green card and when he was asked why he was silent about developments in his home country during the more than ten years he spent in the united states he reportedly said, ‘I don’t believe in talking or criticizing I rather act,some of you are illegal here but make a lot of noise.’
Legal expects say Mutambara who lost his first bid for parliament could be served with a Notice of Intent to Revoke, (NOIR) under the same law the US is currently using to revoke residence permits of those who assisted the Nazi in Germany and went to live in the United States and acquired the much sought after permanent residence card.
The U.S. Has been revoking the citizenship of all those with past Nazi involvement and to date the United States has deported and revoked students permits of 37 individuals with close links to ZANU PF bigwigs and those perceived to be assisting Mugabe ‘s regime.
The U.S. already has financial and travel penalties in place against more than 170 citizens and entities with ties to Mugabe. If talks fail the Bush administration is considering punishing the government of Zimbabwe as well as further restricting the travel and financial activities of Mugabe supporters.
US president George Bush has already promised aid for Zimbabwe if the talks result in “a new government that reflects the will of the Zimbabwean people,” he said, “the United States stands ready to provide a substantial assistance package, development aid and normalization with international financial institutions.”
Posted by Special Investigations Unit
on August 19, 2008. Filed under Local News.
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