BY NQABA MATSHAZI 
A United Kingdom newspaper, the Daily Mail, yesterday claimed that Gaddafi arrived in Zimbabwe last week aboard Mugabe’s private jet.
But President Robert Muga-be’s spokesman George Charamba has dismissed reports that Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi could be in Zimbabwe, implying that the brother leader may not be welcome.
“If you see him, greet him for me,” quipped Charamba, implying that Gaddafi might not be heading to Zimbabwe after all.
Charamba declined to answer subsequent questions on what Zimbabwe’s response would be in case Gaddafi asked for asylum.
Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, Jameson Timba said his party could not be drawn into commenting on speculation but rather they would be guided by a decision of the African Union and Sadc.
Speculation has been mounting in recent days that Zimbabwe could provide a safe haven for the ousted leader, with others already claiming that he could have arrived in Harare last Wednesday.
Others claimed that the power cut that hit Harare on Wednesday was meant to ease Gaddafi’s arrival so that he would not be seen.
Gaddafi reportedly owns Rainfield Farm, 20km from Chinhoyi and 50km outside Lion’s Den.
According to the Daily Mail, Mugabe’s political opponents spotted Gaddafi arriving in the country, while some tried to give chase to the motorcade taking the embattled Libyan leader to Gunhill suburb.
Zimbabwe was seen as a destination of choice as it is already home to Mengistu Haile Mariam, the former Ethiopian strongman, wanted for prosecution in his home country.
US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton had, in March, intimated that Gaddafi could be coming to Zimbabwe, although the idea of Mugabe and the Libyan leader together rendered her “speechless”.
Gaddafi has been one of the casualties of the Arab Spring, which saw uprisings across North Africa that also led to the demise of governments in Egyptian and Tunisia.
Zimbabwe and Angola were seen as the countries most likely to offer the Brother Leader asylum, but Charamba all but dismissed any possibility that Gaddafi might be headed to Harare.
What state media said about gaddafi
But while Zimbabwe might be considered to be a likely destination, a columnist with The Herald newspaper, Nathaniel Manheru, believed to be Charamba, wrote earlier this year that Zimbabwe was still smarting from a snub by Gaddafi, over an oil deal.
He said Zimbabwe had helped Libya bust sanctions imposed by the West but the North African country had failed to return the favour and instead had chosen to hobnob with Britain, Mugabe’s sworn enemies.
Writing in March, Manheru claimed that Libya courted Britain to appease for the Lockerbie bombing and sold a stake of its oil company, Tamoil, to the British who would not give Zimbabwe favourable terms to buy fuel at the time the country was faced with biting shortages and a foreign currency crunch.
“Here was Zimbabwe facing the same sanctions Libya had gone through and had defeated them using Africa, specifically Zimbabwe support,” Manheru wrote.
“Why would Libya not help out a brother country in a similar predicament?”
Manheru further accused Gaddafi of taking sides with the West, much to the chagrin of Russia, China and Africa, who felt betrayed at the Libyan leader’s about turn in befriending Western nations.
“But his fate illustrates one important lesson for Africa and those who wield African power. It is when you have done all to appease the West, including selling off family silver to it, that you are at your most vulnerable,” Manheru continued.
“After that, you will be so worthless to the West, that only your own death becomes the last rite. You can never placate the Victorians, more so when capitalism is in crisis.”
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