By Alexis Flynn
LONDON--International mining and energy companies are keeping a
wary eye on escalating tensions in Mozambique after a former rebel
group said it would no longer abide by a more than two decades-old
peace deal that ended a brutal civil war in the East African
country.
Fears of renewed conflict between the Renamo movement and the
Frelimo-ruled government come as the country stands on the brink of
becoming one of the continent's big energy producers, with billions
of dollars in investment planned by the likes of Italy's Eni SpA,
U.S. firm Anadarko Corp., Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto and
Brazil's Vale.
South African energy company Sasol, whose main operations are a
natural gas processing facility in Temane in southern Mozambique,
said it was "deeply concerned" by Renamo's move but said it didn't
believe the unrest posed a countrywide threat.
"This is an unfortunate development in an otherwise unbroken
period of peace and stability, that has underpinned the high
economic growth that the country has experienced," said a Sasol
spokeswoman.
This year, mining company Rio Tinto was forced to suspend coal
shipments from the northwest Tete province after Renamo threatened
to disrupt the Sena railway line that carries coal exports to the
port of Beira.
A Rio Tinto spokesman said Tuesday the company is "monitoring
the situation closely."
Eni, Anadarko and Norway's Statoil said they were closely
watching events.
"We are following the situation as it evolves. The situation
currently is calm and our activities proceed as normal," said an
Eni spokesman, while Anadarko's spokesman John Christiansen said
the U.S. firm was "monitoring the political conditions as we do in
any area that we have operations. The safety of our people is our
highest priority."
"We are continuously monitoring the situation in every country
where we have activities, and make the security measures that we
find necessary," said Statoil spokesman Knut Rostad.
Months of sporadic, low-level clashes between Renamo and
government forces escalated Monday, when Mozambique troops seized
the house of Renamo's leader, Afonso Dhlakama, forcing him to flee
into hiding. Renamo accused the government of trying to kill Mr.
Dhlakama and said the action signalled the end of the Rome Peace
Accords, the 1992 agreement that ended the civil war.
Renamo had already staged several attacks in their central
Mozambique heartland and in June warned that they would block the
flow of goods and people along the country's main north-to-south
highway.
Experts say that an escalation of the conflict may lead Renamo
fighters to target power and transport installations.
"While it is likely that guerrilla style attacks will mostly
target government security services, opportunistic attacks or acts
of sabotage against infrastructure including electricity and
railway cannot be ruled out. The situation remains dynamic," said
Markus Weimer, senior analyst at consultancy Control Risks.
--Devon Maylie in Johannesburg, Liam Moloney in Rome, Kjetil
Malkenes Hovland in Oslo, Tom Fowler in Houston and Alex Macdonald
in London contributed to this item.
Write to Alexis Flynn at alexis.flynn@wsj.com
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