Malawi tells Libya to close diplomatic mission

Malawi, which once had strong diplomatic ties with Libya, has told the north African nation to close its mission in Lilongwe as it was no longer necessary, media reports said Sunday.

‘Malawi observed that there was little business between the two countries. We felt we don’t need each other that much,’ foreign affairs secretary Ben Mbewe was quoted by the independent Sunday Nation newspaper.

Mbewe said the Libyans were advised that Malawi ‘will not feel anything if they also leave the country’.

Malawi set up diplomatic ties with Libya in 2001 during the reign of former President Bakili Muluzi, who often said his poor southern African country would benefit from cooperation with Libya.

Relations grew stronger with Libya’s leader Moamer Kadhafi making a historic visit to Malawi in 2002, where he pledged to build a modern hospital in the commercial city Blantyre.

But relations started to wane after Muluzi’s handpicked successor Bingu wa Mutharika came into power in 2004, and immediately ordered the closure of the Malawi embassy in Tripoli without explanation.

‘After we closed our office in Libya, it was also up to them (Libya) to leave,’ Malawi’s foreign affairs minister was also quoted as saying.

The Mutharika administration has suspicions that Libya funds Muluzi’s United Democratic Front, which is seeking to unseat Mutharika in elections in 2009.

Mutharika has been at loggerheads with Muluzi after he ditched the Front soon after winning the presidential elections to form his own party.

The Mutharika administration, which has closed several of its missions as cost-cutting measures, has not explained the reason behind its soured relations with Libya.