Peace talks resume in Mozambique

Government resumes dialogue with Renamo

Mozambique's Frelimo-led government and the main opposition party Renamo resumed talks on 27 January, after three months of stalled negotiations and escalating political tension between both sides.
The talks follow sustained attacks by Renamo rebels in the central Sofala province that have caused concern among international investors in the nation's coal and gas sectors.
During their first meeting in three months, the former civil war enemies agreed to allow third parties to participate in future talks, with Renamo requesting the presence of foreign observers.

Renamo is angry with the government for the ambush on the movement's leader Afonso Dhlakama last October, which prompted the immediate cessation of the country's 1992 peace deal.
The oppostition movement, which comprises a force of about 300 rebel soldiers, claims it has "missed out" on the wealth generated by foreign investment in Mozambique's coal and gas trade.
It accuses Frelimo, which has governed Mozambique since independence from Portugal in 1975, of monopolising political and economic power in a nation where more than half the population still lives in poverty, despite being one of Africa's fastest-growing ecomonies.