New Zealand will tour Zimbabwe in October -- its first visit there since 2005 -- and a reciprocal tour by Zimbabwe is planned for early 2012.
Foreign minister Murray McCully today said that sanctions applied by New Zealand against Zimbabwe, to express opposition to human rights abuses by the regime of Robert Mugabe, would be waived to allow Zimbabwe's tour to proceed.
McCully said he had informed New Zealand Cricket that the decision was conditional "on the situation in Zimbabwe not deteriorating in a significant way."
Zimbabwe has not played a test match since it met India in Harare in 2005 but has made a recent return to international play at Twenty20 and limited-overs international World Cups.
Matches are scheduled in coming weeks between a Zimbabwe XI and 'A' -- or second-string -- teams from Australia and South Africa.New Zealand has twice been scheduled to tour Zimbabwe since 2005 but postponed both tours because of concerns around security, human rights and the state of local medical facilities. The October tour marks the third attempt to play the postponed series.
The decision by the New Zealand government to approve New Zealand's October tour and the return visit by Zimbabwe suggests reduced concern around the Mugabe regime's attacks on political opponents.
"The return visit runs smack into the travel sanctions that operate in relation to sporting tours from Zimbabwe. So I have taken some advice from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and what I've said to New Zealand Cricket is that we have no concerns about them touring Zimbabwe," McCully said.
"We have therefore adopted the position that we are prepared to issue visas for the Zimbabwe team to come to New Zealand and to provide an exemption from the sanctions for that purpose."
