Mozambique: ‘Room for dialogue between president, Renamo dissident leader’ – UN

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Mozambique: ‘Room for dialogue between president, Renamo dissident leader’ – UN

5:03 CAT | 07 Jan 2021

File photo: O País

The UN secretary-general’s special envoy to Mozambique, Mirko Manzoni, on Wednesday argued that there is room for dialogue between the Mozambican president and the dissident leader of Renamo, Mariano Nhongo, expressing his support for the process.

At stake is the announcement made by the leader of the self-proclaimed Renamo Military Junta, a dissident group of the main opposition party, at the end of December, reporting the suspension of ambushes and vehicle attacks on roads and villages in central Mozambique, to allow the start of peace negotiations with the government.

In October, the Mozambican president had also announced a halt in the pursuit of the Renamo Junta by defence and security forces for seven days, but attempts to move closer to a dialogue failed, with both parties exchanging accusations.

For Mirko Manzoni, the opening of the two parties to dialogue is a good sign, a clear demonstration of the importance attached to peace and of their desire to end the conflict in central Mozambique.

Also read: Mozambique: 15,000 meticais base salary for military “square soldiers” and other ‘Junta’ demands – Carta

“These advances represent concrete progress and we will support all efforts to dialogue with a delegation of the Renamo Military Junta. We hope that 2021 will bring peace to all Mozambicans,” said the note.

Despite these advances, in recent months, after the failure of the first attempts at negotiation, the Mozambican president announced major operations against bases of the self-proclaimed Military Junta in central Mozambique, saying that the security forces had captured three men close to the leader of the dissident Renamo group, one of whom was his field assistant.

Also read: Mozambique / DDR: Former spokesman to ‘military junta’ welcomed in Chókwè

Nhongo’s group demands better conditions for reintegration, the renegotiation of the 2019 peace agreement between the government and Renamo, and the resignation of the current president of the main opposition party, Ossufo Momade, whom they accuse of having diverted the negotiation process from the ideals of his predecessor, Afonso Dhlakama who died in May 2018.

Source: Lusa