Former Foes Set To Meet in Mozambique

WITH the governing party taking a substantial lead in Mozambique's first multiparty election, former rebel leader Afonso Dhlakama, who staged a short-lived boycott as polls opened last Thursday, has agreed to attend talks with President Joaquim Chissano today.

President Chissano and his Mozambique Liberation Front, or Frelimo, had just over 50 percent of the vote, based on results from about 400 polling stations randomly selected from the more than 7,400 nationwide, a UN source said. Mr. Dhlakama's Mozambique National Resistance, or Renamo, had about 30 percent of the vote.

When they meet today, Dhlakama and Chissano are expected to discuss possible arrangements for a government of national unity.

Angolan troops recapture port

WHILE negotiators continued to hammer out the final details in a peace accord to end two decades of civil war, government troops recaptured the petroleum producing town of Soyo with a marine assault, the Angolan military announced yesterday. Angola's government, which earns three-quarters of its $3-billion annual income from oil revenues, had targeted Soyo as a top military objective since the rebels overran it shortly after they resumed the country's civil war in October 1992.

The offensive came as government negotiators were reported to be on the verge of signing a treaty with the rebels in the latest attempt to end one of Africa's longest-running wars.