Mozambique: Mozambique’s president and Renamo rebel movement sign peace deal to end armed hostilities
Mozambique’s president and the leader of Renamo, a former rebel movement-turned-opposition party, have signed a peace accord to end armed hostilities.
Thousands of Renamo’s remaining fighters are disarming just weeks before a visit by Pope Francis and a national election scheduled for mid-October that will test the now-political rivals’ new resolve.
President Filipe Nyusi and Renamo leader Ossufo Momade shook hands and embraced after the signing ceremony.
Earlier in an address to parliament on Wednesday, where he announced that the signing ceremony would take place at Renamo’s remote military base in the Gorongosa mountains, Nyusi said: “The agreement that we will sign marks the official end of the conflict between Renamo armed men and the defence and security forces, and allow for the long-lasting peace that all Mozambicans have so longed for.”
The signing brings an end to a long peace negotiation process initiated by Renamo’s former leader, Alfonso Dhlakama, who died in May last year.