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Mozambique ex-spies in public protest

By AFP
Mozambique Mozambique President Armando Guebuza speaks with an AFP journalist in Chimoio, on October 30, 2013.  By Johannes Myburgh AFPFile
NOV 7, 2013 LISTEN
Mozambique President Armando Guebuza speaks with an AFP journalist in Chimoio, on October 30, 2013. By Johannes Myburgh (AFP/File)

Maputo (AFP) - Over 300 Mozambican former police intelligence officers on Thursday staged a protest outside President Armando Guebuza's office demanding their pensions be paid.

"Now that his mandate is coming to an end, we don't want the president to finish his mandate without resolving our problem," said spokesman Adolf Beira.

Mozambique will next year hold presidential elections, expected to choose Guebuza's successor.

The officers, said to number over 2,000, are demanding over three years of retroactive pension pay-outs.

They claim they were unfairly dismissed by the state and replaced with younger officers.

The march took place under the watchful eye of heavily armed soldiers, stationed outside the presidency building.

The ex-servicemen dispersed peacefully after their representative met officials from Guebuza's office.

In February, the cops staged a smaller protest, warning that a wave of kidnappings in the capital Maputo would go unsolved without their help.

Mozambique has in the past two years been hit by kidnapping gangs targeting wealthy businessmen and increasingly children as well as foreign nationals.

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