THURSDAY, 5.30PM
MOZAMBICAN defence chief Lieutenant-General Lagos Lidimo has promised an investigation into allegations, first published by the Mail & Guardian last week, that weapons are being smuggled to Angola’s Unita movement via the northern Mozambican port of Nacala.
“We have no information of arms being shipped to Unita through the Nacala port,” Lidimo told Maputo’s Noticias newspaper. He said, however, that if the story were proved true, this would mean the arms are being smuggled secretly, without the knowledge of Mozambican authorities.
Lidimo said the claims will be investigated, but added that he believes the allegations are a fabrication by former officers of South Africa’s apartheid army who want to harm relations among Southern African states.
Meanwhile, Angola’s ambassador in Maputo, Antonio Condesse de Carvalho, was quoted by Radio Mozambique as saying that only the South African authorities could clear up these claims. Carvalho said he doubts the Mozambican authorities are involved in the affair, and that it will not affect relations between Mozambique and Angola.