Thousands welcome Mozambique opposition leader as he returns from exile

MAPUTO, Mozambique

Thousands of people turned out to meet Mozambique's main opposition leader after he returned home from more than two months in exile Thursday to push his claim that he won the October presidential election.

Supporters of opposition leader Venancio Mondlane hold a Mozambican flag as they follow his convoy after his return from exile. 

Security forces barred supporters from going to Maputo's international airport to meet Venancio Mondlane as he landed, with at least one person shot and wounded at one of the barricades, an AFP photographer said.

But thousands gathered later at a market in the centre of the city, chanting "Venancio" and blowing whistles and vuvuzelas as Mondlane, flanked by security guards, stood on the top of a car and waved and pointed to the crowd.

His vehicle was thronged by large crowds as it left the area. Riot police fired tear gas that dispersed the gathering, an AFP reporter said.

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Mondlane's return comes a week before the inauguration of the next president, Daniel Chapo, the candidate of the ruling Frelimo party who was proclaimed winner of the vote.

Mondlane claims the vote was rigged in favour of Frelimo, which has held power for 50 years. He says a separate count showed that he won the vote, which he repeated at the airport.

Raising a hand as if taking an oath, Mondlane said in front of journalists that he was the "president... elected by the genuine will of the people".

The dispute over the election results has unleashed waves of violence that have left around 300 people dead, including protesters killed in a police crackdown, according to a tally by a local rights group.

Via regular and widely followed social media addresses, Mondlane directed the demonstrations from an unknown location abroad.

The unrest has caused major losses to Mozambique's economy, stopping cross-border trade. Shipping, mining and industry have also been affected, while thousands of people are reported to have fled to neighbouring countries.

Soon after exiting the terminal, Mondlane knelt on the ground, a bible in his hand.

"I'm here in the flesh to say that if you want to negotiate... I'm here," he told reporters, in a message for the authorities.

The government has called for dialogue to end the dispute but ignored Mondlane's request for the talks to be held virtually while he was out of the country.

The opposition leader said he had also returned to "witness" what he said were attacks and the kidnapping of his supporters and to face any criminal charges the authorities had laid against him.

There had been no political agreement, Mondlane said. "I came to make history, I didn't come to have a position, I didn't come to have a role, I didn't come to have perks."

There were fears ahead of his arrival that Mondlane could be arrested, including on charges related to the weeks of protests by his supporters, many of them young Mozambicans desperate for change.

Any government action against Mondlane could send Mozambique -- still scarred by years of civil war -- into a major crisis, analysts said.

"If the government arrests Venancio, there will be an international outcry and potentially very dangerous demonstrations," said Eric Morier-Genoud, an African history professor at Queen's University Belfast.

"If they don't arrest him, he will occupy the centre and Frelimo will be weakened just a few days before the inauguration of the deputies and the president," he told AFP on Wednesday.

Mondlane arrived at the Maputo International Airport after more than two months in an unknown location.

Back in Mozambique, Mondlane will "reclaim the political initiative", Morier-Genoud said.

Mondlane's return "will either destabilise or resolve the current political crisis", said Tendai Mbanje, analyst at the Johannesburg-based African Centre for Governance.

"He is the current hope and future of the youths: if his life is at risk or tampered with, that will be a source of unending instability," he said.

"On the other hand, if Frelimo would like to unite the country, it is time that they take his return as an opportunity for dialogue."