MOZAMBIQUE - ONE DOZEN KILLED IN POLITICAL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MAPUTO 001158

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
AF/S - JMALONEY
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PINR PHUM SOCI MZ RENAMO
SUBJECT: MOZAMBIQUE - ONE DOZEN KILLED IN POLITICAL
VIOLENCE IN NORTHERN MOZAMBICAN TOWN

REF: MAPUTO 681

1. (SBU) Summary: On September 6 violence broke out in the
small town of Mocimboa da Praia in northern Mozambique
between the police and supporters of the main opposition
party, RENAMO, resulting in 12 deaths and nearly 50 wounded.
Order has since been restored, but several RENAMO figures
from the area may have gone into hiding. The events appear
to be a localized RENAMO protest, the result of a disputed
mayoral election. End summary.


2. (U) According to press reports, in the morning of
September 6, in the small northern town of Mocimboa da Praia,
shots were fired and a dozen people killed (including a
policeman) and nearly 50 wounded. Violence continued in the
town throughout much of the day, with altercations largely
between police and supporters of the main opposition party,
RENAMO, although gangs of rival FRELIMO (the ruling party)
supporters were reportedly involved, too. A number of houses
were burned, including the house of the mayor, Amadeu Pedro
(see below).


3. (U) On September 4, RENAMO supporters had held a mock
"installation" ceremony at their office in a suburb of
Mocimboa da Praia for Saide Assane, the RENAMO candidate for
mayor of the town. RENAMO claims that Assane won the May 21
by-election in Mocimboa da Praia, and since then RENAMO
activists have said that they would not recognize as mayor
the FRELIMO candidate, Amadeu Pedro, who took office last
month. (Note: The May by-election was held because the
previous mayor, also from FRELIMO, succumbed to an illness
last October. See reftel for a report on the disputed
by-election. End Note.) On September 5, according to the
government-owned newspaper Noticias, RENAMO supporters
marched around the town celebrating Assane's "installation,"
and blocked traffic and otherwise tried to provoke civil
disobediance. Police forces in Mocimboa da Praia evidently
received reinforcements from the provincial capital, Pemba,
during the day. The next morning, when the strengthened
police force acted to restore order, the shooting began.


4. (U) There are conflicting accounts of what prompted the
shooting. According to the pro-government Noticias, in the
morning of September 6 some RENAMO agitators fired first and
the police reacted. According to the independent newspaper
Zambeze, quoting remarks given in Maputo on September 7 by
the RENAMO party spokesman, the police set off the violence
by firing into the RENAMO headquarters in the town, killing
several people.


5. (U) President Guebuza said on September 7 that government
would "work to ensure that the rule of law is respected" in
Mocimboa da Praia. Minister of the Interior Pacheco, who had
served as governor of Cabo Delgado province (where Mocimboa
da Praia is located) from 1998 until earlier this year, flew
up to the town later that day. He announced that the
government would show "zero tolerance" toward any further
violence. Returning to Maputo today, he reported that five
RENAMO figures had been detained. (Note: It is unclear who
these RENAMO figures are. This morning Armindo Milaco,
RENAMO's deputy in the National Assembly for Mocimboa, called
in to a radio talk show from his cell phone, saying that he
feared arrest and had gone into hiding. At the time he said
the "installed" mayor, Saide Assane, was hiding from the
police, as well. End note.)


6. (U) Maximo Diaz, the leader of one of the smaller
political parties, MONAMO, who called the embassy on
September 8 to express his condolences over hurricane Katrina
damage, said he thought that the violence in Mocimboa was
largely homegrown and not anticipated by RENAMO president
Dhlakama. According to Diaz, Dhlakama has lost considerable
clout within RENAMO since his poor showing in the 2004
elections and has far less control than before over RENAMO at
the grass roots level.


7. (SBU) Comment: The disturbances in Mocimboa da Praia are a
repeat, though on a much smaller scale, of violence that
erupted during demonstrations by RENAMO supporters around the
country in November 2000. Then RENAMO refused to accept
FRELIMO's claims to victory in the 1999 general elections.
The government will likely move swiftly to calm the situation
and round up the perpetrators, basing its actions on the need
to respect the law. Although there will probably be charges
in the media that the police overreacted, we see little
evidence at this juncture that the events in Mocimboa da
Praia will resonate strongly with RENAMO supporters
throughout the country.
La Lime