Johannesburg – Heavily armed security forces stormed the Beira home of Mozambican opposition Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama on Friday, arresting some of his personal guards. It was not immediately clear if they intended to arrest Dhlakama himself.
Local media said several prominent local citizens, including the Bishop of Beira, Dom Claudio Dalla Zuanna, the mayor Quelimane Manuel de Araújo (a member of the opposition party Mozambique Democratic Movement), and Sofala province governor Maria Helena Taipo, were in the house mediating between Dhlakama and the security forces.
Observers were speculating that the raid stemmed from a violent clash between government and Renamo forces on September 25 near the central Mozambican town of Amatongas in Manica province in which several individuals from both camps and at least one civilian were reported to have died.
Some reports suggested that the security forces were trying to arrest Dhlakama on murder charges relating to the earlier clash, while a senior local journalist said that Dhlakama, as a member of the Council of State, enjoyed immunity from arrest.
A security analyst based in Maputo said that the raid on Dhlakama’s home happened just after he had returned from his hideout in Satangira in Gorongoza in Manica Province where he had been lying low since the September 25 clash.
One report said the security forces had fired bazookas during the raid. It said the security forces had blocked off the street and kept journalists at bay. They had also removed Dhlakama’s property from his house.
African News Agency