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The Mozambican President, Filipe Nyusi, warned Friday that any opposition fighter in Renamo who would choose not to surrender his weapons as part of an ongoing disarmament program would be "hunted down".
More than 5,200 fighters from Renamo should hand over their arms to the government, which is one of the conditions for maintaining a historic peace agreement.
Signed Thursday, the agreement aims to officially end decades of hostilities between the government and the opposition Renamo.
But Nyusi warned that "those who will commit attacks or not surrender their weapons" will find themselves pursued by the authorities.
"The government and Renamo are going to unite to drive out these people," Nyusi told the Notícias state newspaper.
The harsh warning came after gunmen attacked vehicles on Mozambique's highways just hours after the signing of the cessation of hostilities agreement, threatening to streamline the peace process.
A second attack in the area was reported Friday, but the police refused to comment.
So far, no one has claimed responsibility for these attacks, but these have been attributed to the fact that the Renamo deserters refused to recognize Ossufo Momade as the new leader of the group, after Afonso Dhlakama.
Nyusi said that citizens had been threatened.
"They are enemies of peace, they are not necessarily Renamo people," he said.
The peace agreement is the third between the government and Renamo.
The previous two failed partly because Renamo had not surrendered all its weapons and accused the government of disrespecting the agreement.
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