MOZAMBIQUE - RENAMO OFFICERS THREATEN TO "RETURN

C O N F I D E N T I A L MAPUTO 001137

SIPDIS
AF/S - TREGER
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/31/2015
TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL MZ RENAMO
SUBJECT: MOZAMBIQUE - RENAMO OFFICERS THREATEN TO "RETURN
TO THE BUSH" OVER MILITARY RETIREMENTS

REF: A. DAO MAPUTO IIR 6 866 0042 05 271209ZJUN05

B. DAO MAPUTO IIR 6 866 0055 05 300922ZAUG05
Classified By: Ambassador Helen La Lime, for reasons 1.4 (b/d)

1. (SBU) The Ambassador, along with other heads of missions,
was called to a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign on August
30 to hear the government rebut claims made recently a RENAMO
leader that former RENAMO officers are being forced to retire
unfairly from the Mozambican armed forces. Former senior
RENAMO general Herminio Morais, at a press conference RENAMO
called on August 25, had charged that the government had
unfairly dismissed 25 former RENAMO officers serving in the
Mozambican armed forces -- one colonel, six majors and 18
captains. Morais threatened that unless the government took
steps to rectify the situation "in the next 30 days,"
ex-RENAMO fighters would take weapons (Morais said "Ak-47's,
pistols and hand grenandes") and return to their former
military base in Meringue, Sofala province.


2. (SBU) Speaking to the Ambassador and other diplomats,
Deputy Foreign Minister Banze (most recently Deputy Minister
of Defense in the Chissano government),clearly concerned to
set the record straight with the international community,
laid out the rationale for the retirement of army officers.
He said that the retirements referred to by RENAMO's Morais
were entirely regular and in keeping with ongoing reform in
the military in terms of the army's mission, its access to
funds, structure and training needs. Fundamentally,
retirement was based on length of service and carried out
regardless of whether an officer had formerly been with
RENAMO or FRELIMO forces. Per Banze, a professional military
should act according to three principles: respect for law;
the military must not be a political instrument; and there
must be no partisanship in the ranks.


3. (U) Under the 1992 Rome Peace Agreement both soldiers from
RENAMO (20,000 fighters) and Mozambican government units
(60,000) were to be demobilized and then reconstituted into
the new Mozambican army on an equal basis. The new armed
forces would number 30,000 personnel. In fact, since the end
of demobilization in 1994 the number of men and women in the
armed forces has remained relatively constant at
approximately 10-11,000 soldiers. (Comment: We do not have
figures on the exact number of ex-RENAMO officers in the army
at present, but believe that they are a distinct minority.
RENAMO's officers and rank and file were generally considered
less well-trained than FRELIMO's, which may partly explain
RENAMO's lower representation in the officer ranks of the
reformed army. End comment.)


4. (U) RENAMO's threat of returning to war has been roundly
criticized in the media (admittedly in the pro-government
media) by prominent Mozambican personalities. Abdul Sau, a
leading figure in the Islamic Council of Mozambique, said
that RENAMO's belligerence signifies that the party has not
been able to transform itself from a guerrilla movement into
a viable political force 13 years after the war ended. The
government paper, Noticias, carried interviews on August 30
with heads of the other political parties. In every instance
the politicians attacked RENAMO for its "irresponsible"
statements and most added the obvious, that Mozambicans had
no wish to resume fighting. A senior Catholic church
official in Maputo, in a somewhat more conciliatory tone,
downplayed the threats as merely an "expression of force"
rather than a real desire to return to war.


5. (C) Comment: Over the past several months RENAMO
officials, including RENAMO president Dhlakama, have issued
statements accusing the government of "marginalizing"
ex-RENAMO officers in the military. We have been unable to
substantiate these claims (Ref A). However, given President
Guebuza's past as the FRELIMO political commissar in the army
during the early years of the 1976-1992 civil war, we would
not be surprised if the army now has a more partisan tinge,
Deputy FM Banze's statements notwithstanding.


6. (C) Comment Continued: We view the ex-RENAMO general's
threat that former soldiers will take up arms and return to
their old base at Meringue as grandstanding and a fantasy.
Morais' remarks are the first we have heard by any RENAMO
leader in favor of such a drastic step. Nonetheless we will
watch developments closely.
La Lime