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MAPUTO. — Mozambican security forces were as from Friday disarming guards of Afonso Dhlakama, the leader of the main opposition Renamo, in the central port city of Beira, and several guards of Dhlakama were arrested by riot police, local radio reported.

Radio Mozambique reported that the security forces apprehended big calibre weapons, which are not allowed to be used in the protection of an opposition leader.

The report said that the security forces stormed Dhlakama’s house and arrested the group after disarming its members.

According to the police, the guards were in possession of heavy weaponry with big calibres, not for individual protection, but for battle.

Under the Rome agreement signed between the Frelimo-led government and Renamo in 1992, to end the civil war, the Renamo leader is entitled to have his own guards with light weapons, such as pistols and AK-47 assault rifles.

The station added that the security forces were to investigate the origin of the weapons and how Renamo acquired them.

The guards are protecting Dhlakama, who left the Gorongosa bush where he was in hiding for Beira, the capital of Sofala on Thursday.

Local media reported that people living in the vicinity of Dhlakama’s home have abandoned their residences in fear of possible clashes between the police and Renamo men.

The street in which the disarming operation is taking place has been sealed off.

The national broadcaster also reported that, while the riot police and government troops continued to disarm the guards, Dhlakama was in the house holding talks with mediators of the dialogue between the former rebel movement and the Frelimo government.

The mediators were persuading Dhlakama to provide the list of his men to be disarmed and integrate them into the army and the police forces.

The main aim of the dialogue, which had been going on since March, 2013, is the disarmament and integration of the Renamo men who are looming around the bushes of central Mozambique.

It is expected that the meeting between the mediators and Dhlakama will pave the way for face-to-face talks between Dhlakama and President Filipe Nyusi to resolve the impasse in the dialogue.

At the beginning of the week, Dhlakama said he had ordered his delegation to return to the negotiating table and resume dialogue with the government.

The government’s chief negotiator, the Agriculture Minister Jose Pacheco, said the government is still open to resume with the dialogue with Renamo to resolve the country’s political crisis.

Following the disarmament process of Renamo guards, the European Union (EU) expressed its concern in a Friday communiqué over the new development in the Mozambican pacification process.

“The EU is following with great concern the developments in Beira. Efforts in recent days to de-escalate military tensions and build confidence risk being jeopardised,” said the communiqué.

“A peaceful negotiated outcome depends on the sustained commitment to reach a political solution through dialogue and non-violent means,” the EU communiqué added. — Xinhua