British High Commissioner denies media reports on safety

The British High Commissioner to Tanzania, Richard Clarke, has denied Tanzanian media reports which suggested he had contradicted British foreign office advice on travel to Zanzibar. Clarke said the media had misinterpreted comments he had made during a visit to the island. On 15 January, the British foreign office issued a warning that Tanzania, including Zanzibar and Pemba Islands, was one of a number of countries in the region where there may be an increased terrorist threat. Tanzanian Radio had quoted Clarke as saying the situation on the islands was "one of peace and stability" and was "safe" for tourists. Clarke said the British government had not issued a travel ban to its citizens wishing to visit Zanzibar, but that it was carrying out its duty to warn them of possible dangers. "In the light of the global situation it is the prime duty of the government to safeguard its citizens abroad and that is what we are doing," he told IRIN. "We are not banning or asking our citizens not to travel. The fact that I was there is proof of that." "They [the Tanzanian media] equated the fact that I had said there was no travel ban as it being safe to travel. I was not going over to declare that it was safe to travel - when we have credible information, we have a duty to pass it on to our citizens." The Australian and the US governments have also warned their citizens to be extremely cautious if visiting Tanzania, especially Zanzibar. Clarke, who was in Zanzibar for the launch of the Zanzibari Association of Women Politicians, said the British government recognised the collateral effect of travel warnings. "I wanted to see first hand the situation on Zanzibar and I was struck by the immediate economic impact of the travel advisories." "The difficulty is that while we are conscious of the impact of these travel bans, our first duty is to our citizens," he said. "Given what has happened recently to British citizens, especially in Bali, if we get credible information we have to put it in the public domain." "As development partners, however, we are not just there when the sun shines - we will stick by the government." Local tourist operators have expressed outrage at the travel warnings, which they say were issued without due consideration to their potential effect on tourism. January to March is normally the peak tourist season for Zanzibar and hotel owners say there have been cancellations. Zanzibar's Minister for Trade and Tourism, Mohamed Aboud, said no information had been found to substantiate the warnings of possible terrorist attacks. "We think Zanzibar is just as safe as other European states because this is now a global problem - we need to fight collectively against the terrorists," he told IRIN.