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Herald Reporter
Zimbabwe does not seek to be an enemy of any country in the world and remains committed to pursuing re-engagement with the United States, a senior Government official has said.

Secretary for Foreign Affairs and International Trade Ambassador James Manzou said Zimbabwe was surprised by the United States’ assertion that it was an adversary.

Ambassador Manzou said Zimbabwe had no capacity to mount a threat to a superpower like the US.

He said this yesterday while giving oral evidence before Parliament’s portfolio committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

Committee chairperson and Makonde MP Cde Kindness Paradza had asked him to comment on allegations by the US national security adviser, Mr Robert O’Brien, that Zimbabwe, along with China and Russia had a hand in the protests that were triggered by the killing of a black man, George Floyd, by a police officer in the city of Minneapolis last week.

He said Mr O’Brien’s claims were so surprising that Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Dr Sibusiso Moyo had to summon the US ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr Brian Nichols to register Zimbabwe’s displeasure.

“Besides expressing our concern over the issue, we totally reject the statement as unwarranted because little Zimbabwe is not an adversary of the US. We do not seek to be an enemy with any country let alone the US. This is why we have extended a hand of friendship and cooperation to anyone including the US under our policy of re-engagement. We are dialoguing with the US and every country. We reject that assertion with the contempt it deserves,” said Ambassador Manzou.

“Zimbabwe has neither the capacity nor means to threaten a super power. We have been seeing what has been happening in the US, the continent has spoken on the issue and we share the concerns of the African Union,”

He said what made the claims more surprising was that while several countries had made pronouncement on the killing of Floyd by a US police officer, Zimbabwe had not commented about it.