Mediators unveil their proposal for demilitarised corridor in Mozambique – Sate News Agency

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Mediators unveil their proposal for demilitarised corridor in Mozambique – Sate News Agency

4:25 CAT | 26 Aug 2016

Reuters (File photo)

The international mediators in the Maputo talks between the Mozambican government and the Renamo rebels did indeed, as predicted in some of the media, propose on Wednesday that a demilitarised corridor be set up that would allow the mediators to reach Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama at his base in Gorongosa district in the central province.

The proposal from the mediators, just a page long and very short on detail, was presented at the Wednesday meeting of the government/Renamo Joint Commission. Although the meeting lasted for about seven hours, there was no consensus, largely because Renamo insisted that the government withdraw its forces from the area of the Gorongosa mountain range, a point not included in the mediators’ proposal.

The text of the proposal, released to the media on Thursday morning, said that the government and Renamo delegations are indeed agreed on “a suspension of all hostilities and all forms of violence throughout the country”, but this suspension will only take effect when international observers “reach all the areas where military actions are occurring, including Gorongosa”.

Once that had been agreed in the Joint Commission, the proposal continued, “the Government of Mozambique will invite the friendly and neighbouring countries who may be available to mobilise and send, as soon as possible, the personnel necessary for an international verification mission”.

The two delegations were agreed on setting up a demilitarized corridor to allow the mediators to have direct access to Dhlakama “as from the moment when the suspension of hostilities is agreed”.

“In order to implement technically this demilitarized corridor”, the proposal continued, “and to provide indications about the visit of the International Observers to the agreed areas, a specific working group is set up with the presence of the international mediators/facilitators”

That working group, the proposal concluded. “once the suspension of hostilities and of all types of violence is respected by both sides, may propose to the Joint Commission a calendar of later stages to create the terms and conditions for a permanent ceasefire”.

But none of this is happening, because Renamo will not budge an inch before the government withdraws its forces from the Gorongosa mountains, although Renamo is not suggesting any quid pro quo, such as restricting its own forces to their bases.

At the end of Wednesday’s meeting, the coordinator of the mediating team, the Italian Mario Raffaelli, made it clear that Renamo’s demand was the sticking point. He told reporters that the rebels “will accept a temporary truce around the Gorongosa mountain range, as long as the government withdraws its forces stationed there”.

But the government, Raffaelli said, believes its forces must remain in Gorongosa to protect the local population from Renamo attacks.

The government position, he added, was that “the mission of the defence and security forces is to protect the population and its property, and to allow people to circulate in a climate of peace, harmony and security”.

Renamo’s intransigence means that nothing in the mediators’ proposal can happen, at least not in the short term. So there will be no demilitarized corridor, no international verification mission, and no timetable for a ceasefire.

The Joint Commission will not meet again until 12 September. However, the sub-commission set up to draft constitutional amendments and legislation on decentralization will continue to meet during this three week interval.

Both Renamo and the government chose a set of mediators. The mediators chosen by Renamo are representatives of the European Union, the Catholic Church and the South African government, while for its part the government chose former Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, the Global Leadership Foundation (represented by former Botswanan President Quett Masire), and the Faith Foundation, set up by former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair.

Source: AIM