Maputo, Mozambique — Mozambican journalist Carlos Cardoso, gunned down by unknown assailants Wednesday, was a man "obsessed with the truth," the chairman of the Maputo municipal assembly, Teodoro Waty, declared Friday.

Addressing mourners at Cardoso's funeral in Maputo city hall, he praised Cardoso as "a tireless, persistent and perspicacious worker."

The two men were on opposite sides of the Maputo political divide: Waty heads the group of the ruling FRELIMO party in the municipal assembly, while Cardoso was elected on the independent ticket known as "Juntos pela Cidade" (JPC - Together for the City).

But Waty said that Cardoso put the interests of the city "ahead of doctrines, dogmas and individual disputes."

"Cardoso was forthright, impartial and committed to the municipality," he added.

He recalled Cardoso's battles to keep down municipal expenditure, to make use of labour-intensive methods in the fight against coastal erosion, and to ensure that the new Maputo-South Africa toll road would not prejudice ordinary citizens.

Waty revealed that what was almost certainly the last phone call Cardoso ever made concerned municipal business. Shortly before leaving his office Wednesday evening, just minutes before he was gunned down, Cardoso had rung Waty to discuss problems in the city's rubbish collection system.

"You told me 'see what you can do about it. It would be bad to have the city dirty again'," Waty recalled.

Remembering Cardoso's sometimes short temper, Waty said: "You were explosive, but you were a friend."

Cardoso's tone might have been irascible at times, "but Cardoso was upright, and his words did not wound people," he said.

Meanwhile, a message from JPC declared: "We want at this solemn moment to reaffirm that your ideals of truthfulness will not disappear.We shall attempt to follow your example. We shall always be together for the city."

After the speeches, officers of the municipal police loaded the coffin onto the hearse for its final journey to Lhanguene cemetery, where the man regarded as one of the finest of Mozambican journalists was cremated.

At the gates of the cemetery there was an emotional meeting, as Cardoso's widow, Nina Berg, embraced the widow of another murdered Mozambican - Graca Machel, widow of Mozambique's first president; Samora Machel, who so inspired Carlos Cardoso and his generation of Mozambican journalists.