Star Metro - Mozambique opposition leader returns home, ready for government talks

Venancio Mondlane, who claims the October 9 election was stolen from him, arrived at Maputo's main airport from an unknown location and was greeted by a large crowd of journalists.

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

Mondlane had called on his supporters to meet him on arrival but security forces restricted access to the airport.

At one of several barriers erected around the area, security forces shot and wounded a man among a group of about 200 people, an AFP reporter at the scene said.

Mondlane claims the election was rigged in favour of the candidate of the ruling Frelimo party, Daniel Chapo, who is due to be sworn in on January 15.

The authorities have called for dialogue to end the dispute.

As Mondlane landed, hundreds of chanting supporters, some blowing whistles and vuvuzelas, headed to Peace Square in the city centre where they expected the charismatic 50-year-old would address them.

Clashes broke out in one area where police fired tear gas to hold back hundreds of people, some of whom hurled stones at the security forces, television images showed.

The dispute 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.

Authorities say police have also been killed and there has been looting and vandalism.

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 after 50 years under Frelimo.

- Hope for youth -

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's return gives people hope, said Fatima Pinto, 20, who trained as a general medical technician.

"We young people are here fighting for our tomorrow," she said, echoing a key complaint among the youth about not being able to find work that matches their qualifications.

Chapo, 48, takes over from President Filipe Nyusi, who bows out at the end of his two-term limit. Official results gave him 65 percent of the vote compared to 24 percent for Mondlane.

But observers said they noted irregularities.

By returning, Mondlane will "reclaim the political initiative", Morier-Genoud said, with the population "more militant than ever".

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

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."

F.Davis--SMC