Botswana has deported a considerable number of Zimba bwean Central Intelligence Organization (CIO) spies, according to the Botswana G a zette, dated 11 December 2008. It said that more than three Zimbabwean CIO officers operating in Botswana are deported every week. Quoting reliable sources, the Botswana Gazette said that some of the CIO officer s came to Botswana claiming to be refugees. When questioned, the spies claimed that they left Zimbabwe in search of greener pastures. When arrested by the security forces, they claim that they had quit the CIO. According to the Gazette, some of them are police officers while others are army officers who claim to have retired. The deportation of the CIO spies comes in the wake of allegations by the Zimbabwean government that Botswana was providing military training for the Movement fo r Democratic Change (MDC) militiamen. When contacted for comment, the Director General of the Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services (DISS) in Botswana, Mr. Isaac Kgosi, declined to comment on the issue and said “We cannot divulge the operations of DISS to the media as that is against the law.”
