Mozambique’s
president said the country’s fragile peace process must not collapse after
veteran rebel leader Afonso Dhlakama, who had opened talks with the
government,
died unexpectedly aged 65.
President
Filipe Nyusi hailed Dhlakama as “a citizen who always worked for Mozambique”
and said he was distraught at the news of his death.”I hope that we as Mozambicans
can continue to do everything so things do not go down,” Nyusi said in a
telephone call to state television TVM late on Thursday evening.
“He did
everything so that there would be peace. The last time he spoke to me, he said
he was not going to miss out anything in peace negotiations.”Sources in
Dhlakama’s opposition Renamo party said he died on Thursday after a heart
attack, while local media said he suffered severe diabetes.
For 39
years, Dhlakama led Renamo, the rebel group which fought a 16-year civil war
against the ruling Frelimo party until 1992 and then emerged as an opposition
party that still retained its armed fighters.
He had been
in hiding for much of time since 2013 in the remote Gorongosa mountains after
sporadic conflict again erupted in the country.
But Dhlakama
had recently held meetings with Nyusi and he was seen as playing a key role in
advancing the country’s nascent peace process.
Surprise
truce
Dhlakama’s
death “increases the difficulty of turning the current ceasefire with the
government into a lasting political settlement,” said Ed Hobey-Hamsher of the
Maplecroft Risk consultancy, adding that Renamo now faced a leadership vacuum.
Analysts
said Dhlakama would be remembered for challenging the abuses of the ruling
Frelimo party, but also for allowing his own forces to commit serious human
rights violations with impunity.
In December
2016, he announced a surprise truce with the government in the major first step
towards a formal peace deal.
Nyusi and
Dhlakama last met in February in Gorongosa to discuss disarmament and
reintegration, and they appeared to have agreed on constitutional reforms that
would decentralise power.
The reforms,
currently under debate in parliament, would allow voters to directly elect
provincial governors, who at present are appointed by the president.
But Renamo’s
demands for better integration of its supporters into the police and military
remained a sticking point in discussions.
“The person
to succeed him has to come from the armed wing of Renamo,” said supporter
Delphina Joaquim, 29, in the rebel stronghold of Beira city.
“The
strength and stability that Dhlakama had — we want someone like him. We will
continue working with the mission he left us.”
Dhlakama
repeatedly stood as an unsuccessful presidential candidate in elections,
despite alleging electoral fraud.
Mozambique
will hold elections in October 2019, with observers saying Renamo had recently
increased its public support.
Frelimo has
ruled the country since independence from Portugal in 1975.
Restive
legacy
Nyusi
reportedly sent a helicopter to the Gorongosa mountains to fly Dhlakama abroad
for emergency medical treatment.
“The weight
for me is worse than for everyone,” Nyusi said. “I tried to transfer him but I
could not because he was in a place where I could not help.”
“We have
lost our father, our teacher, the person who is the light of the majority of
Mozambicans,” Renamo secretary-general Manuel Bissopo told TVM.
Local media
said Dhlakama’s body arrived early on Friday in Beira, though no funeral
details have yet been announced.
Between 2013
and 2016, Renamo — which also holds seats in parliament — attacked government
and civilian vehicles, while soldiers were accused of ruthlessly targeting
suspected rebels.The United States issued a statement expressing condolences
and calling for all sides to work towards a peace deal after Dhlakama’s death.
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