ZIMBABWE DEPORTS LIBYAN INTELLIGENCE OFFICER

S E C R E T HARARE 001874 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/16/2012 TAGS: PTER PREL ZI SUBJECT: ZIMBABWE DEPORTS LIBYAN INTELLIGENCE OFFICER Classified By: political section chief Matt Harrington. Reasons: 1.5 (B) and (D). ¶1. (U) According to almost identical press reports in both the state-owned "Herald" and the independent "Daily News," the Zimbabwean government deported prominent Libyan resident Yousef Murgham on August 15 for engaging in (unspecified) activities that posed a threat to national security. Murgham was escorted under the heavy guard of Central Intelligence Organization (CIO) agents to Harare International Airport and placed aboard an Air Zimbabwe flight bound for Nairobi, and he was expected to catch connecting flights to Cairo and Tripoli. CIO officers apparently prevented Murgham's wife from serving the escorts with a copy of a High Court order preventing the deportation. The state-controlled daily described Murgham as a former intelligence officer at the Libyan embassy from 1986 until the early 1990's who still "was using the cover of contacts he made within the ruling ZANU-PF party and Government while a diplomat." According to the same article, Murgham's relationship with the Libyan ambassador was "frosty." His Zimbabwean wife, Jean, told journalists he had resigned from the Libyan government in 1993 but had preferred to remain in Zimbabwe. ¶2. (S) Comment: Murgham's activities as an intelligence officer under non-official cover, and the internal GOZ machinations which preceded the deportation, have been well-documented in ORCA channels. A relative of Libyan leader Khadafy, Murgham has been the primary architect of the close relationship between the Zimbabwean and Libyan governments, as well as of closer Libyan relations with much of southern Africa. Khadafy's failure to stop in Zimbabwe during his recent road trip through the region, on his return from the African Union inauguration, was likely related to the Murgham uncertainty. It is noteworthy that the GOZ has taken a step likely to irritate its benefactor in Tripoli, and we are interested to see whether the deportation has a deleterious impact on the warming Zimbabwe-Libya relationship. More context is available in ORCA channels. End Comment. SULLIVAN