Mozambique opposition eyes peace deal by November

Maputo, Mozambique | AFP | Mozambique’s opposition chief Afonso Dhlakama said Friday he expected to sign a peace deal with President Filipe Nyusi by November, as the two sides look to end years of unrest.

The two men met last month in the remote Gorongosa mountains, where Dhlakama retreated in 2015 with 800 former fighters.

“In principle (the peace deal) will be in October and not later than November,” Dhlakama told the Canal de Mocambique newspaper, speaking by phone from his forest hideout.

“It is expected that in October we will have another meeting to finalise the agreements,” he said.

Dhlakama leads Renamo, an insurgent group that fought a 16-year civil war before becoming an opposition political party that again took up arms in 2013.

Clashes between the ruling Frelimo party government and Renamo last year revived the spectre of Mozambique’s civil war that ended in 1992.

Renamo members, who hold seats in parliament, have called for greater decentralisation of the state and better integration of their people into the police and military.