By ARNALDO VIEIRA

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Mozambique's main opposition party Renamo has picked Mr Ossufo Momade as its interim leader to replace the fallen Afonso Dhlakama.

Renamo spokesman José Manteigas said Mr Momade was unanimously elected as the party’s interim leader.

“Let us first hold our president's funeral. It is not yet time to talk about what will happen in future,” VOA Radio quoted Mr Manteigas as saying.

Mr Momade, who was Renamo’s Defence head, will be the party’s leader until the next congress to be announced soon.

Guerrilla warfare

Journalists in Beira city quoted Mr Momade saying Renamo would continue respecting the peace accords negotiated with the government.

“Renamo will honour the accords signed by Dhlakama and the party and pursue what has already been started,” he said.

Mr Dhlakama, who mixed guerrilla warfare with opposition politics, died aged 65 on Thursday.

According to Renamo, Mr Dhlakama died of an unconfirmed heart attack.

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In another development, Mr Dhlakama's family said the fallen leader would be buried on Thursday.

A farewell memorial will be held at the Ferroviário da Beira Stadium from 8am (local time) on Wednesday, according to the O Pais newspaper, quoting Mr Dhlakama’s family members.

“He will be buried on Thursday May 10 in Chibava District in Sofala Province,” the O Pais further reported, adding that the ceremony would be held at the family cemetery.

The Mozambique Council of Ministers on Fridays set up a commission to assist Renamo and the Dhlakama family organise his funeral.

The burial

The commission is made up of Justice, Constitutional Matters and Religion and Public Works and Housing ministers, and the deputy minister of Health, Environment and Rural Development.

President Filipe Nyusi has postponed a state visit to Norway and Finland to attend the burial.

For 39 years, Mr Dhlakama led Renamo, the rebel group which fought a 16-year war against the ruling Frelimo party until 1992 and then emerged as an opposition party that still retained armed fighters.

He had been in hiding since 2013 in the remote Gorongosa mountains as sporadic conflict again erupted in the country.

But Mr Dhlakama had recently held meetings with President Nyusi and he was seen as playing a key role in the country's developing peace process.

Decentralise power

In December 2016, Mr Dhlakama announced a truce with the government, which appeared to be moving towards a possible formal peace accord.

President Nyusi and Mr Dhlakama met in February in Gorongosa to discuss disarmament and reintegration.

They had agreed on constitutional reforms that would decentralise power.

The reforms, currently under debate in parliament, will allow voters to directly elect provincial governors, who at present are appointed by the president.

Frelimo has ruled Mozambique since independence from Portugal in 1975.

The independent Mozambique descended into a civil war that lasted more than a decade.