Angola deports Tanzanian political leaders, others

An apparent diplomatic debacle occurred Thursday at Angola’s Luanda Airport when more than twenty senior leaders and representatives of political parties across southern Africa were detained, some deported immediately. There has been no comment from the Angolan government. The officials had gone to Luanda to participate in discussions at the Platform for African Democrats Forum organized by the Brenthurst Foundation from March 13-16. Some of the opposition leaders included former Botswana President Ian Khama, John Steenhuisen, leader of South Africa’s Democratic Alliance party, and Venancio Mondlane of Mozambique’s PODEMOS party. The Tanzanian delegation included Dorothy Semu, leader of the ACT Wazalendo party, as well as party chair Othman Masoud Othman. Nasra Omar, foreign affairs spokesperson for the ACT Wazalendo party, tells VOA’s James Butty, Angolan authorities detained and deported them.