Maputo — Several people were injured, one of them seriously, when, on Sunday, the last day of the Mozambican election campaign, supporters of the ruling Frelimo Party and of the former rebel movement Renamo clashed in the northern port of Nacala.

The Nampula provincial police spokesperson, Antonio de Oliveira, told AIM that the incident was provoked by the Renamo group who, at about 09.00 on Sunday morning, blocked the road between the upper and lower parts of the city, to prevent it from being used by the Frelimo campaigners.

Members of the Renamo group threw stones and other objects at anyone wearing clothing bearing Frelimo symbols. "Because this is a very busy area, other passers-by, who had nothing to do with Frelimo, were hit", said Oliveira.

He added that the police had to resort to tear gas to disperse the Renamo crowd. Two people were arrested, and Oliveira said the police sent the case papers to the court just a few hours later.

"These are individuals who took the law into their own hands to solve differences", said Oliveira. "If they had a genuine complaint, they should have placed it before the police and the courts".

Oliveira guaranteed that, just as the police had ensured that the election campaign throughout Nampula province had taken place without any great problem, so it would ensure the maintenance of peace and tranquillity during polling day, Wednesday.

The Nampula police also arrested 19 Somalis who had entered the country illegally and were discovered in the bush of Murrupula district. Local people had stumbled across the Somalis, and fearing that they might be armed, and intended to destabilize the elections, they informed the police.

Oliveira said that the police found no guns when they searched the Somalis, and that the real purpose of the group was simply to use Mozambique as a corridor, in an attempt to reach South Africa. "Unfortunately these cases have been on the increase recently, with the connivance of some of our own citizens", he said.

Oliveira said the Somalis will soon be deported.