GOVERNMENT ACCUSES RENAMO OF ATTACKING POLICE

The Mozambican government, through its delegation for the political dialogue, which has been dragging over the last two years and with no end in sight, has blamed the main opposition party and former rebel movement Renamo of launching five attacks against the police force in Tsangano district, in the western province of Tete.

This accusation was made this Monday at the Conference Centre Joaquim Chissano in Maputo, venue of the ongoing political dialogue with Renamo, by the deputy head of the Mozambican government delegation, Abduremane Lino de Almeida.'Our discussion gravitated around a report drawn up by military experts and in the same report it is written there were five attacks carried out by Renamo against the police,' said De Almeida, who is also Minister of Justice, Constitutional and Religious Affairs.He added that the armed militia belonging to the party lead by Afonso Dhlakama, also attacked a civilian vehicle.Questioned by reporters about the number of deaths, the Minister said “there were no casualties”.For his turn, the head of the Renamo delegation, Saimone Macuiane, said there is a need to set up a commission of inquiry which should include members of both delegations and national mediators, who would embark on a fact finding mission.'The government presented issues which it feels are related to possible violations of the Agreement on Cessation of Military Hostilities, signed in September last year,' said Macuiane, adding 'we at the table level, said it is crucial the creation of a commission of inquiry for the area mentioned by the government'.In the current round, the 113th, it was expected tha both delegations would start discussing the fourth and last point of the political dialogue which deals with economic Issues. According to Renamo the idea is to discuss the equitable distribution of national resources.However, once again the party led by Afonso Dhlakama failed to submit its proposal on the issue. 'It was our expectation that Renamo would bring its proposal for the fourth point of the political dialogue, now we are waiting for the next steps,' said De Almeida, adding 'in fact, it was Renamo who brought the substance of which is the fourth point (of the political dialogue) '.In the meantime, the parties continue to differ on the procedures to be followed with the declaration of party state separation. This is because the Renamo wants the document to be approved by the Assembly of the Republic, the Mozambican parliament, while the government disagrees. 'For our surprise the government says that only Renamo has a responsibility to submit this document to Assembly of the Republic (the Mozambican Parliament), while it is clear that both parties should do so,' exclaimed the head of Renamo delegation. On the agenda of this dialogue are the electoral package, party state separation, military issues, and economic Issues. However, only the first point, regarding the Electoral Package, was completed so far.