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