Southern African leaders postpone meeting on Mozambique insurgency

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Southern African leaders postpone meeting on Mozambique insurgency

6:45 CAT | 28 Apr 2021

File photo: João Relvas / Lusa

A Southern African leaders meeting that was scheduled for Thursday to address the Islamic State-linked insurgency in Mozambique has been postponed, Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi’s office said on Wednesday.

The meeting was to receive a report from a team sent to Mozambique to assess the security situation and identify ways to support the country after IS-linked insurgents attacked the coastal town of Palma, displacing tens of thousands of people and stalling a $60 billion natural gas project.

The gas project by French oil major Total is meant to transform the economy of one of Africa’s poorest countries.

The meeting was put off due to the unavailability of the Botswana and South African presidents, Masisi’s office said.

𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄
𝐄𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚 𝐎𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐀𝐃𝐂 𝐎𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬, 𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞#AdvancingTogether #PushaBw #BWPresidency🇧🇼 pic.twitter.com/k3pBe683E7

— Office of the President| Republic of Botswana. (@BWPresidency) April 28, 2021

Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique form a division of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) that wants to decide how to help Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province against Islamist militant attacks there.

Botswana is the current chair of the SADC division, which is tasked with promoting peace and security in the region.

Masisi went into self-quarantine on Tuesday after the detection of a case of COVID-19 among his staff, while South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa is giving testimony to an inquiry into corruption under his predecessor Jacob Zuma.

The insurgency broke out in Mozambique’s northeast in 2017 and the rebels have stepped up attacks in the past year.

A report by ratings agency S&P Global said militant attacks in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province pose a “significant threat” to production facilities associated with one the biggest natural gas discoveries in the world.