MAPUTO: Mozambique’s president and a rebel leader signed a landmark peace deal here yesterday, ending a two-year conflict that has rekindled memories of the country’s brutal civil war.
President Armando Guebuza and Mozambican rebel Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama, who came out of hiding on Thursday, signed the deal in front of around 100 diplomats and dignitaries. The two leaders embraced prompting jubilant cries and clapping from those gathered.
For two years government forces and fighters loyal to Dhlakama have clashed, with the rebel leader accusing the state of reneging on a peace deal that ended Mozambique’s brutal civil war.
Around one million died as a result of the 15-year conflict, which ended in 1992. In the recent clashes Dhlakama’s supporters attacked buses and cars on the main north-south highway and government forces raided his bush hide out, in a low-level but deadly insurgency.
The two men led a minute’s silence for those killed over the past two years. The authorities have maintained a blanket of silence over the number of casualties, but civil society groups estimate more than 100 people have been killed.
“Today is a very important day for our people,” president Guebuza said. “Our people waited patiently for this day, knowing solutions to our problems were to be found through dialogue.”
AFP
