Malawi expels UK diplomat after UK remarks that the country doesn't tolerate criticism (!)
The president of Malawi has explained his decision to expel the British High Commissioner for the first time. Fergus Cochrane-Dyet was told to leave after he was quoted in a leaked cable as saying President Bingu wa Mutharika does not tolerate criticism. President Mutharika said he would not accept insults just because Britain was the country's largest aid donor. Britain ordered the acting High Commissioner of Malawi to leave the UK in response to the move last month. According to the diplomatic cable published by the local Weekend Nation newspaper last month, Mr Cochrane-Dyet described President Mutharika as "becoming ever more autocratic and intolerant of criticism". He said local civil society activists were afraid after a campaign of threatening phone calls and said the government was restricting the freedom of the media and minorities.