Mozambican defence minister sacked

Mozambican President Armando Guebuza has fired his defence minister barely a week after the sacking of some top military officers.

In a terse presidential statement on Wednesday, Guebuza said he had replaced Tobias Dai with businessman Fillipe Nhussi.

Until his new appointment, Nhussi was one of the directors at the national railway company.

Dai, a retired army general, was appointed defence minister after the 1999 general elections. He succeeded Aguiar Mazula, a civilian who was dropped in a Cabinet reshuffle by former president Joaquim Chissano.

The dismissal of Dai comes a week after defence heads chief Lieutenant General Lagos Lidimo and his deputy, Mateus Ngonhamo, were fired.

The presidential statement did not give reasons for the dismissals, but said Guebuza had appointed Paulino Macaringue as new head of the defence forces and Olimpio Cambona as his deputy.

In the same month, Guebuza demoted Foreign Affairs Minister Alcinda Abreu, replacing her with businessman Oldemiro Baloi, a former trade and industry minister under Chissano.

At the same time, the president also fired transport minister Antonio Munguambe and justice minister Esperanca Matavele.—Sapa