Renamo boycotts peace celebrations

A boycott by Mozambique's opposition Renamo party of planned celebrations on Friday to mark a decade of peace has been described as "regrettable" by ruling Frelimo. "It appears that Renamo intends to resuscitate ghosts at a time when the people of Mozambique, from the Maputo to Rovuma rivers, are planning to mark a very important date in the history of their country," Frelimo Secretary-General Armando Guebuza told state-run Radio Mozambique this week. "Living in peace for the past 10 years has been a major achievement ... So, Renamo's decision is regrettable," he said. Before the 1992 General Peace Accord between Frelimo and Renamo rebels, Mozambique had been ravaged by an 18-year civil war. Half of the country's population was dependent on food aid, an estimated quarter of the population was displaced and one million Mozambicans had sought refuge in neighbouring countries. Renamo, however, had insisted that its participation in the anniversary celebrations was conditional on the release of 14 of its supporters jailed for their role in political violence in the northern town of Montepuez in November 2000. "It would be a positive development and a contribution to national reconciliation if the prisoners were to be set free," Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama told state radio on Tuesday. "How can I celebrate the occasion [4 October] when several people are languishing in jail, serving up to 20 years, merely because they staged a peaceful demonstration? They killed no one." Originally Renamo said it would boycott the celebrations because they were to be held at Heroes' Square in the capital Maputo. The former rebel movement said they did not recognise the square as a national monument. Dhlakama's new condition - the freeing of the 14 supporters in Montepuez - overlooked the fact that their conviction "was a court decision, not a political decision", a political analyst in Maputo, who asked not to be named, told IRIN. "What [Renamo] should have done when the law was introduced in March to make 4 October a public holiday was to ask for an amnesty to be declared for those jailed over Montepuez," he added. The Montepuez clashes between the police and Renamo supporters occurred during nationwide Renamo demonstrations against alleged fraud in the December 1999 presidential and legislative elections. Eighty-three people who had been among those arrested as the authorities regained control of the town later suffocated to death in an overcrowded police cell. Despite the setback of Montepuez, and the persistent problem of poverty in Mozambique, as a result of a decade of peace two multi-party elections have been held, refugees have returned, rural areas have come back to life, landmines are slowly being cleared, and the economy has boasted a 13 percent growth rate.