Secret talks between Mozambique opposition, EU mediators canceled
Secret peace negotiations between Mozambique's opposition leader Afonso Dhlakama and EU mediators were annulled at the weekend after fighting erupted between the country's army and former rebel fighters, local media say.
The meeting aimed to contribute to talks that began in May to find a solution to the conflict between the government and Dhlakama’s rebel group turned political party Renamo.
"We had agreed (with President Filipe Nyusi) that two mediators would come ... to meet me," the independent weekly Canal de Mocambique quoted Dhlakama as saying.
Dhlakama said he had cancelled the meeting after the army increased its presence near the place of the meeting.
"There was a violent shootout. I even heard explosions from here," said Dhlakama, who has been in hiding in the central Gorongosa mountains since October 2015.
"So I called (chief mediator Mario) Raffaelli to tell him that armed forces had come to ambush me," he added.
Dhlakama quoted the mediator as saying that he was "convinced" that the ruling Frelimo party "wanted to capture me during the meeting."
"It is obvious they have a plan to kill me," he added.
Raffaelli declined to comment on the matter but an EU diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that two mediators had gone to Gorongosa for a meeting with the opposition leader.
The diplomat said Dhlakama had told the mediators to "turn back at the very last moment."
The political situation in Mozambique has been tense for months with Dhlakama refusing to recognize the results of the 2014 elections, where the Frelimo party was declared the winner. The party has been in power since the southern African country’s independence from Portugal in 1975. Dhlakama also threatened to seize power by force in the northern half of the country.
Renamo and the Frelimo-led government had been engaged in a civil war for 16 years that was brought to an end in 1992.
Renamo's armed wing has conducted a string of fatal assaults in central Mozambique in recent years as it seeks to increase its share of power.
On October 19, the warring sides resumed a new round of peace talks despite the killing of an opposition negotiator on October 9.
The mediators continued separate talks on Tuesday with representatives of each side.
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