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President Mugabe receives Lesotho’s King Letsie III in Harare yesterday

Elita Chikwati, Harare Bureau
KING Letsie III of Lesotho arrived in Harare yesterday afternoon for a four-day State visit and was given a welcome fit for a king when President Mugabe and his two deputies Cdes Emmerson Mnangagwa and Phelekezela Mphoko welcomed him at Harare International Airport.

Also on hand to receive the king were several Cabinet ministers, service chiefs, senior Government officials and diplomats.

King Letsie III was feted with a 21 gun salute before inspecting a guard of honour mounted by the Presidential Guard.

He met thousands of Zimbabweans and Basotho who had thronged the airport to welcome him before being whisked off to a top Harare hotel ahead of a State banquet held in his honour by President Mugabe at State House.

King Letsie III is expected to visit the National Heroes Acre, National Museums and Monuments, Lion and Cheetah Park before flying to Victoria Falls to see one of the world’s seven natural wonders, among other activities.

The King, who will leave for Maseru on Thursday, was scheduled to hold talks with President Mugabe last night.

Zimbabwe and Lesotho enjoy cordial relations dating back to the liberation struggle.

Lesotho extended crucial assistance to Zimbabwe during the liberation struggle, which saw eminent political figures receiving education in that country.

Zimbabwe and Lesotho are bound together by a common history, similar cultures and strong economic linkages.