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Pact Reached in Mozambique But Prospects for Peace Uncertain

Reuters

   MAPUTO/JOHANNESBURG - With a handshake and a hug, Mozambique's leaders
   hoped Tuesday to close the book on a decades-long conflict. But an
   election in October and new causes of violence mean lasting peace is
   far from assured.

   After fighting on opposite sides of a civil war that erupted following
   independence from Portugal and killed more than one million people
   between 1977 and 1992, the ruling Frelimo party and former guerrilla
   movement Renamo signed a cease-fire that ended the worst of the
   bloodshed.

   However, violence has flared periodically in the years since,
   especially around elections.

   President Filipe Nyusi and Renamo leader Ossufo Momade smiled broadly
   and embraced after signing the deal, which encompasses a permanent end
   to hostilities and constitutional changes, as well as the disarming and
   reintegration of Renamo fighters into the security forces or civilian
   life.

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