Mozambique faces uncertainty as Renamo ends 1992 peace pact
By Manuel Mucari, Reuters
21 Oct 2013
Mozambique's Renamo opposition movement said on Monday it was abandoning its 1992 peace accord with the ruling Frelimo party that ended the country's civil war, raising fears of a renewal of conflict in the budding African energy producer.
Renamo, which entered representative politics through the peace pact that terminated the brutal 1975-1992 war, said it took the decision because of the capture on Monday by government forces of a jungle base where its leader Afonso Dhlakama was staying. Dhlakama escaped into the surrounding mountains.
"Peace is over in the country ... The responsibility lies with the Frelimo government because they didn't want to listen to Renamo's grievances," Renamo spokesman Fernando Mazanga told Reuters. (read more)
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Mozambique: Renamo's Leader Returns to BushBY ANDREW MAMBONDIYANI,Think Africa Press 30 OCTOBER 2012
Opposition leader Afonso Dhlakama and 800 former guerrillas have decamped to their old military base. Is this a tactic of negotiation or a retreat from it? Chimoio - At the end of October, former Mozambican rebel leader Afonso Dhlakama, along with 800 of his former guerrillas, decamped to his former base near the Gorongosa Game Park. Dhlakama is the leader of the National Resistance of Mozambique (RENAMO), the country's second largest political party and the main opposition party. The group had a key role in the civil war (1977-92), during which it - backed by the Ian Smith regime in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and the apartheid regime in South Africa - attempted to oust the ruling socialist Liberation Front of Mozambique (FRELIMO) party. It has now been 20 years since the signing of the Rome General Peace Accord, which brought an end to the 15-year conflict, yet the violence of war remains fresh in the minds of many. Both sides were accused of war crimes, more than one million people were killed and more than five million were displaced. While presented as a negotiating tactic, Dhlakama's move has nevertheless created anxiety amongst some Mozambicans, worried that the country could see a return of violence. ( read more)
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