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Vol 55 No 23

Published 21st November 2014


Mozambique

Kingpin kidnap chaos

The abduction of an alleged drugs baron in Maputo embarrasses the new President and highlights the strength of organised crime in the country

President Filipe Nyusi surely hoped that such a problem would not come up so early in his new job. On 18 November, one of the most notorious and wealthiest donors to the governing Frente de Libertação de Moçambique (Frelimo), Mohammed Bashir Suleiman, was kidnapped. He is the highest-profile victim yet of the wave of kidnappings that has swept the country. After armed men snatched him from his own shopping mall, his family issued a statement confirming the abduction and appealing to the government to do its best to secure his release. Witnesses report that he was held up at gunpoint at the mosque in the shopping centre and taken away in a Toyota car with no number plate. Police, who have mobilised officers throughout the city, say four men carried out the abduction. We hear that the secret services were also activated to help out.

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