Renamo continues to subject termination of hostilities to conditions – Mozambique

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Renamo continues to subject termination of hostilities to conditions – Mozambique

3:52 CAT | 23 Aug 2016

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Renamo continues to make any suspension of hostilities conditional on the withdrawal of the Defence and Security Forces from their positions in Gorongosa, where their leader is allegedly living.

The government side considers this requirement unacceptable, mainly because there are no guarantee that armed Renamo personnel will stop targeting civilians, Noticias reports.

According to the government, it is the FDS’s mandate to ensure order, security and tranquillity throughout Mozambique, and its presence in any geographical area of the country cannot be subject to the will of any political party.

Mediators delivered a truce proposal to the government and Renamo Joint Committee delegations on Friday, while continuing to looking to the dialogue table for consensus on the four agenda points intended as the subject of a meeting between the president, Filipe Nyusi, and Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama.

Notícias has found that the government agrees with the text presented by the mediators on the declaration of an immediate cessation of hostilities, but argues that the Defence and Security Forces stationed in Gorongosa will not move from their positions unless Renamo ceases their armed actions.

The government also agreed that the mediators should go to Gorongosa to meet Afonso Dhlakama, pledging to open a safe corridor for the purpose. But Renamo has advised mediators not to go, allegedly because there is no guarantee of their security.

The government’s insistence that the Defence and Security Forces will not withdraw from their current positions in Gorongosa is based on the suspicion that Renamo could take advantage of the situation to reorganise itself militarily.

At the end of yesterday’s Joint Commission negotiation session, mediator Mario Raffaelli said that the proposal delivered to the delegations took into account everything that was discussed bilaterally with the parties. Without going into express detail, he added that yesterday’s discussions identified some points that could be accepted by the parties without demure, while other points needed further work.

The Joint Commission resumes discussions tomorrow.

Source: Notícias