Police calls on RENAMO security guards to join them

The Mozambican police have called on opposition RENAMO security guards to disarm, police spokesperson Nataniel Macamo told IRIN after a reported gun battle in the central town of Inhaminga. The estimated 150 ex-rebel soldiers guarding RENAMO leader Afonso Dhlakama's residence in the nearby town of Maringue were in violation of the 1992 peace agreement, which called for their disarmament and absorption into the army and police force, he said. Last week a gun battle broke out between the armed guards and the police, after a political skirmish between RENAMO and FRELIMO in Inhaminga, in the central province of Sofala, a RENAMO stronghold. Macamo said a policeman was found dead "in strange circumstances." Eduard Namburete, RENAMO's election manager, was dismissive of a police call for the former RENAMO soldiers to join the force. He accused the ruling FRELIMO of not having adhered to the accord, which called for the integration of 15,000 troops from each side into the security forces. "Only 5,000 former RENAMO soldiers have been integrated into the army," Namburete alleged. The peace accord had made provision for about 25 security guards for Dhlakama, he said, but refused to comment on the protection force's current strength. He added that RENAMO did not consider the police force as "non-partisan", and therefore needed to maintain its own security force to protect Dhlakama's residence in Maringue, a town that the police now reportedly control. Senior Mozambican journalist Fernando Lima said, "The issue does need to be resolved, but it only surfaces every election year." He confirmed that the Mozambican police force was not as integrated as the army. Despite 12 years of peace, friction has continued between FRELIMO and the former rebel movement, RENAMO, in the areas it holds. Lima said although the police had moved to take control of strategic parts of Sofala, "as soon as they withdraw, RENAMO will be in control again." FRELIMO and RENAMO were locked in a bitter civil war for 16 years until the 1992 peace agreement.