Mozambican president tells international mediators that there is urgency in peace

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Mozambican president tells international mediators that there is urgency in peace

6:45 CAT | 20 Jul 2016

Lusa (File photo) / President Filipe Nyusi

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi urged on Wednesday the international mediators to help the government and Renamo to end military clashes, noting that the people have an urgency for the country to have peace again.

“The key role is yours, may facilitation [that will be exercised by the mediators] help find the solution that meets the people’s expectations, so that it does not continue to die,” Nyusi said, speaking in his working office with international mediators on the talks between the government and Renamo Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) for the restoration of peace in the country.

Emphasizing that the people are to be the winners of the current negotiation process, Filipe Nyusi said that negotiations between the government and the main opposition party should result in lasting peace in Mozambique.

“Let this chapter be closed once and for all, so that investments continue to promote economic and social development of the country, so that we are not wasting time and energy,” he said.

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Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the meeting with the head of state, the Italian Mario Raffaelli, one of two mediators appointed by the European Union (EU) and who led the mediation team of the 1992 Comprehensive Peace Agreement of Mozambique, considered positive the meeting with Filipe Nyusi but refused to dwell on comments on the negotiation process.

“You know that I am very experienced in peace talks, but I will not make statements, the meeting with the President was positive,” Raffaelli said.

The European Union (EU) also indicated Angelo Romano,from the Community of Sant’Egidio, the institution which mediated in 1992 in Rome, the General Peace Agreement, for the new negotiations between the Mozambican government and Renamo.

Besides the EU, the current negotiation process has the mediation of the Catholic Church – through the Nuncio in Maputo, Edgar Peña and sthe ecretary of the Episcopal Conference of Mozambique (CEM), João Nunes – the former President of Botswana Quett Masire in representation of the Foundation for Global Leadership, based in London, a representative of Faith Foundation, headed by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and a representative of the Government of South Africa.

Although the two sides have resumed negotiations, the attacks by alleged Renamo gunmen against civilian and military vehicles in several of the country’s central sections have not ceased and the movement accuses the Defence and Security Forces of intensifying the shelling of Gorongosa, where Dhlakama is presumably living.

The main opposition party refuses to accept the results of the general elections in 2014, threatening to rule in six provinces where it claims victory in the poll.

Source: Lusa