Zimbabwe Detains Local Employee of U.S. Embassy

ABC News’ Kirit Radia reports: Zimbabwe has detained a local hire employee of the U.S. Embassy in Harare and has accused him and others from the U.S. embassy of attempting to assassinate Zimbabwean Air Marshall Perence Shiri, according to the U.S. State Department.

The U.S. embassy is vigorously denying he or anyone at the embassy had any involvement in the alleged assassination plot.

"We have completely credible evidence that he was nowhere near the scene of the alleged shooting of Air Marshall Perence Shiri when it supposedly took place," a State Department official, who asked not to be further identified, told ABC News.

A physician who was able to visit the man in jail says he has been beaten and tortured, according to U.S. officials. Reports in Zimbabwe indicate authorities there are looking to pick up another local hire employee of the U.S. embassy, and may be targeting a U.S. diplomat as well.

USAID driver Frank Muchirahondo was arrested on Jan. 22. "He was arrested at the Mutare border crossing as he was departing Zimbabwe on official travel to conduct business associated with his position as an employee of USAID’s Office of Food for Peace," said a State Department official.

"At the time of the alleged act, Mr. Muchirahondo was on a humanitarian mission, monitoring food aid as part of his employment. In the course of his arrest and detention, he was physically abused, held longer than 48 hours, denied access to his lawyer, and denied access to medical treatment and food," said Richard Aker, a State Department spokesman in Washington, D.C.

In his position as a driver for USAID, Muchirahondo also distributes much of the U.S. humanitarian aid throughout the country, since U.S. embassy personnel have a hard time operating outside the capital. The U.S. provides roughly $220 million in humanitarian assistance to Zimbabwe per year.

The circumstances of the alleged assassination of Shiri remain in dispute. He was shot in the hand a few weeks ago, but U.S. officials say the accident more likely happened while he was cleaning his gun or during a hunting accident. Zimbabwean officials, however, maintain he was injured in an assassination attempt with U.S. backing.

An account posted on an official Zimbabwean website implicates Muchirahondo and the U.S. embassy in an attempt on Shiri’s life.

"Despite fervent denials by the U.S. embassy and their attempts through the independent media to portray the attempted assassination as a hoax, the new evidence shows that indeed the U.S. was closely involved in the bid," the site says. It identifies another local hire USAID worker, Daniel Mulenga, as a "co-suspect in the case."

According to U.S. officials, Muchirahondo was initially held for one day in Manicaland, then for two days his whereabouts were unknown. He was then transferred to the Bindura police cells where he was seen on Monday, Jan. 26. He was charged on the 29th with the attempted murder of Shiri, and then transferred for the Bindura Remand prison, described by U.S. officials as an overcrowded facility infected with cholera.

"We call on Zimbabwean authorities to abide by their Constitution and their laws and to respect the rights of Mr Muchirahondo and all Zimbabweans. We also join UN Secretary General Ban in calling for the release of all political prisoners in Zimbabwe," Aker said.