Cablegate: Former President's Son Dies, Implicated in Murder

VZCZCXRO8474
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHTO #1393 3330548
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 290548Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY MAPUTO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8252
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0087

UNCLAS MAPUTO 001393

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV KCOR MZ
SUBJECT: FORMER PRESIDENT'S SON DIES, IMPLICATED IN MURDER

1. (SBU) The son of former President Joaquim Chissano,
Nyimpine Joaquim Chissano, died on November 19 at the age of
37. Though reportedly of a heart attack, his death has been
subject to public rumors of foul play, including poisoning.
Nyimpine was implicated as the intellectual author of the
murder in 2000 of Mozambique,s leading investigative
journalist, Carlos Cardoso, who had been investigating the
country,s biggest banking fraud case at the time, in which
$14 million had disappeared from the Commercial Bank of
Mozambique. The Maputo city judicial court had begun
criminal proceedings in August of this year against Nyimpine
in preparation for a trial that was expected to start before
the end of the year. Nyimpine was buried on November 22,
precisely seven years to the day when Cardoso was murdered.

2. (SBU) COMMENT: President Armando Guebuza left November 21
for Kampala, Uganda to take part in a Commonwealth summit.
While the Chissano family had chosen to hold a private
funeral, President Guebuza's absence was noted. Many
commentators believe that in the years following the Cardoso
murder trial, a considerable and influential part of Frelimo
leadership had expressed concerns that the trial had tainted
former President Chissano in the eyes of the populace, which
could harm the party's future electoral success. Curiously,
opposition party RENAMO's leader Afonso Dhlakama did attend
the funeral, a rare public appearance especially at a
predominantly FRELIMO event. END COMMENT.
Chapman

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