More arrests in Cardoso case

Police have arrested two businessmen and a former banker for allegedly ordering the murder of Carlos Cardoso, one of Mozambique's best-known journalists, Sapa reported on Wednesday. A police spokesperson said officers arrested Vicente Ramaya, former manager of the Maputo branch of the Commercial Bank of Mozambique (BCM), from which $14 million dollars was stolen in 1996. Ramaya and the two businessmen, Momade Assife Abdul Safar and his brother, Ayob Abdul Safar, were being held at Maputo's top security prison, the report said.

The latest arrests bring to eight the number of people facing charges in connection with Cardoso's death in November. Five men were arrested earlier on allegations that they were hired to carry out his assassination. Cardoso, who was gunned down on a Maputo street shortly after leaving his office, had doggedly followed the story of the BCM theft. His paper, 'Metical', published the names of the prime suspects, including Ramaya and several members of the Abdul Satar family. Several members of the Abdul Satar family allegedly opened fraudulent accounts at Ramaya's branch of the bank. Dud cheques were allegedly deposited into the bank while real money flowed out of the accounts. The fraud case has never come to trial because of apparent corruption in the Office of the Attorney General.