A European Union mission to observe Zimbabwe's presidential election hangs in the balance after its Swedish head was ordered to leave the country immediately, in a move that could provoke EU sanctions.
Foreign ministers of the EU, which has threatened to impose sanctions on President Robert Mugabe if its monitoring mission is hampered, are due to discuss Zimbabwe tomorrow.
Mr Mugabe, who faces the stiffest electoral challenge of his 22 years in power on March 9-10th, will travel to Mozambique today to drum up support from his neighbours.
Mr ierre Schori, who had been leading a team of 30 to monitor the presidential poll, told a news briefing in Harare yesterday: "Early today the chief immigration officer informed me that the government had decided that I must leave today."
He added: "The decision to revoke my visa and demand that I leave provides a particularly unfortunate twist in the ongoing dispute between the Zimbabwe government and the European Union."
Mr Schori left Harare airport on a British Airways flight at 7:30 p.m., bound for Sweden via London.
He refused to comment on the chances of the EU imposing sanctions on Harare or on whether the rest of the observer team would leave, saying these issues would be decided by the EU foreign ministers in Brussels tomorrow.
In Spain, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, a source close to Foreign Minister Mr Josep Pique confirmed Zimbabwe would be discussed by the foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday.
Mr Mugabe, who has led Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980, has rejected European criticism of his human rights record and accusations of dirty tricks and intimidation in the campaign for next month's voting.