US embassy cable - 05MAPUTO1158

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