Mozambican opposition leader threatens war

MAPUTO, Mozambique (Reuters) -- Mozambique's main opposition leader Afonso Dhlakama threatened on Wednesday to go back to war to wrest power from President Joaquim Chissano whom he accuses of rigging elections last December.

Dhlakama said his Renamo party had withdrawn its earlier demand for fresh elections by 2002.

"We want power before 2002 and if the issue is to blow up the country...we are prepared and not afraid of anything," he told Reuters in an interview.

"If Frelimo wants war, let them say so officially," he said.

However, he also offered power-sharing as a way out of the dispute.

Violent opposition protests last week against the alleged rigging of the 1999 vote killed 41 people, mostly Renamo supporters.

The December election between Chissano's Frelimo government and Renamo was the second democratic election in Mozambique since the end of a 16-year civil war in 1992.

Renamo accused Chissano of rigging the vote which returned him to power and launched protests in northern and central Mozambique last week. Six policemen and a government official were among the dead.

Dhlakama said Chissano could resolve the election dispute by agreeing to share power, including the appointment of Renamo governors to opposition-controlled provinces.

"We want power sharing. If Chissano is ambitious and wants to be the president of Mozambique while he didn't win the elections, he must accept power sharing at provincial level," Dhlakama said.

Chissano won the presidential vote with 52.3 percent of the vote against 47.7 percent for Dhlakama. In parliamentary voting, Frelimo won 133 of the 250 national assembly seats against Renamo's 117.

International observers declared the election free and fair, but Dhlakama threatened earlier this year to set up a breakaway government in Renamo's powerbase in central Mozambique.

Worst clashes since civil war

Last week's clashes between Renamo supporters and police were the worst since the civil war ended in 1992.

Dhlakama told Reuters his party would resume the protests because he would never accept a "self proclaimed government" for the next five years.

"The demonstrations will resume soon. We are just reflecting on what happened and we are finding new ways of defending ourselves when we are attacked by the police," he said.

The government, which declared a day of mourning on Monday, has blamed Dhlakama and Renamo for inciting the violence and vowed to prosecute those responsible.

Police arrested about 200 people in connection with the violence. Nearly 100 of them were sentenced on Tuesday to jail terms ranging from three months to two years.

Dhlakama also accused the government of diverting investment into Frelimo's southern strongholds and neglecting impoverished central and northern regions.

The giant $1.3 billion Mozal aluminum smelter is located near the capital Maputo, and a South African firm is planning a $500 million titanium project in the southern province of Gaza.

"We want to break the regional imbalances. There are potential natural resources (in central and northern Mozambique), but you can't see anyone doing business," he said.

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