Maputo — For the past two days the air in Maputo has been thick with rumours that the country's most notorious assassin, Anibal dos Santos Junior ("Anibalzinho") had died in Maputo Central Hospital - but at around midday on Friday, the rumour was denied in the most categorical way possible, when Anibalzinho himself appeared on the nation's television screens.

Anibalzinho led the death squad that murdered Mozambique's foremost investigative journalist, Carlos Cardoso, on 22 November 2000. He is currently serving a 30 year sentence for the murder in a cell in the Maputo City Police Command.

The rumours began on Thursday, and seem to be based on people seeing Anibalzinho at the hospital and jumping to the wrong conclusions. Mobil phone text messages circulated around the city confidently stating that Anibalzinho had died. Well-placed and respectable sources were entirely taken in by the rumour - AIM was contacted by a normally reliable source who was convinced that the assassin had died.

Also taken in was the parliamentary group of the opposition Renamo-Electoral Union coalition. Speaking at the country's parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, the head of the Renamo group, Maria Moreno, mentioned the reports of Anibalzinho's death, and declared "Peace be upon his soul".

After Moreno's declaration, the independent TV station STV sent a team to the police command where they found and interviewed Anibalzinho. The assassin's denial of his own death was thus on the STV lunchtime news.

Anibalzinho said he had been ill, but that his state of health was "not complicated".

Interior Minister Jose Pacheco, speaking to reporters after the closing ceremony of a police training course in Matalane, about 30 kilometres north of Maputo, declared "Anibalzinho has not died. He's alive and serving his sentence in the cells of the City Command. Everything that's been circulated about him is just a rumour".

As for the assassin's state of health, Pacheco said that was a medical matter that only doctors could pronounce on.