MOZAMBICAN OPPOSITION
Renamo supporters mourn veteran leader Afonso Dhlakama
The Mozambican rebel opposition leader led Renamo for nearly 40 years through a bloody civil war and into an era of compromised politics
Dondo, Mozambique — Gathered on wooden benches in the shade of a mango tree on Saturday, scores of supporters of Mozambican rebel opposition leader Afonso Dhlakama could barely believe he had died. Dhlakama led Renamo for nearly 40 years, through a bloody civil war and into an era where the party has legislators in parliament while also retaining armed fighters. Dhlakama died unexpectedly on Thursday at 65, leaving his party reeling in shock and struggling to contemplate a future without their talismanic leader. Outside the party’s local headquarters in the small town of Dondo, Renamo supporters and former militants mourned and recalled fighting with him. "We have come together to sing, to pray and to wait for the instructions of the party about the burial arrangements," Bernardo Joao, a Renamo activist told AFP, his voice full of emotion. "We believe that Dhlakama came to liberate the people who lived in slavery." Some party faithful cried quietly and held their heads in their hand...
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