Zambia authorities shut Somalia embassy after diplomats' row

Saturday, May 05, 2012

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Zambia Police late Friday closed the Somalia embassy in the country after confusion emerged when another diplomat was sent in to take up the appointment without the knowledge of the one serving, local media reported.

It was drama at the at the embassy in Lusaka when that country’s ambassador to Zambia, Shirwa Ibrahim, reportedly met the diplomat appointed to take over his job without his recall pre-notice, the privately-owned The Post reported, quoting police sources.

Zambia Police spokesperson Elizabeth Kanjela said the matter is in the hands of the Zambia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “I can confirm that there was a situation at the Somalia embassy in Lusaka and our officers from Woodlands police station were sent,”Kanjela was quoted as saying.

Failed state

The embassy located in Lusaka’s upmarket area Kabulonga was confirmed closed and phone calls were being diverted to an automated answering machine.

Failed state

The embassy located in Lusaka’s upmarket area Kabulonga was confirmed closed and phone calls were being diverted to an automated answering machine.

Currently, Somalia is run by a transitional government and has been characterised as a failed state and is one of the poorest as well as the most violent states in the world. It has been without an effective central government since President Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991.

Years of fighting between rival warlords and an inability to deal with famine and disease have led to the deaths of up to over one million people.

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