MOZAMBIQUE
Mozambique’s leader to pay tribute to Renamo's late Afonso Dhlakama
Dhlakama had recently held talks with Filipe Nyusi
Beira — Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi will pay tribute to political rival and main opposition leader Afonso Dhlakama, who died last week, according to the programme for his memorial service scheduled for Wednesday. Dhlakama, who led the opposition Renamo for nearly 40 years, died at the age of 65 last Thursday from an illness at his hideout base in the Gorongosa mountains in the centre of the country. The talismanic figure played a central role in Mozambique’s history after it gained independence from Portugal in 1975. He led Renamo, created in 1976, through a deadly civil war against the Marxist-inspired Frelimo government until the conflict ended in 1992. He then gradually transformed Renamo into an opposition party, which failed to take power from Frelimo in elections and again took up arms between 2013 and 2016. In December 2016, he announced a surprise truce with the government in a big first step towards a formal peace deal. Dhlakama had recently held talks with Nyusi and ...
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