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Commander Nazim Ahmad, linked to the Aga Khan Network for Development, an organization with projects in the Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, considers that there is a “risk” that the violence in the region will spread throughout the country. In statements to Lusa by email, the diplomatic representative of Imamat Ismaili in the Portuguese Republic said that “the problem of Cabo Delgado has very specific characteristics, framed in that region, in particular”, but, even so, “the extent of the problem – in the country – it must be a risk to take into account when analyzing it ”.
Nazim Ahmad was the first of four personalities heard in the last two weeks at the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs and Portuguese Communities about Portugal’s cooperation with Mozambique and the situation of violence in the Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado.
In addition to the head of the Aga Khan Foundation in Portugal, the parliamentary commission heard, all behind closed doors, the journalist António Mateus, the journalist and commentator Nuno Rogeiro and the professor and researcher Fernando Jorge Cardoso.
For Nazim Ahmad, one of those responsible for strengthening relations between Portugal and the Ismaili community, the situation in Cabo Delgado today “is particularly worrying, given the size it has taken and the respective consequences for the population of the area.” , but “the religious question does not justify what is happening.”
What is happening is that Cabo Delgado “is an easily accessible region for extremist groups, due to its geostrategic location, either by land or sea,” but “also due to economic and social weaknesses,” he stressed. The investments under way to start natural gas exploration in the region are, in his opinion, another factor that contributes to the interest of these radical groups.
“Naturally, in addition to strategic interests, economic interests move these radical groups, which try with their actions to sow terror and control these territories. This situation is common to an entire region that includes, in addition to northern Mozambique, southern Tanzania and Uganda, ”he stressed.
Through the infrastructures and various projects that it develops, the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) and the Aga Khan Foundation have been present in the region for more than twenty years, and for this reason they have “observed with great concern this increase of violence and insecurity, ”he said.
Nazim Ahmad believes that the Mozambican executive “has made every effort” to combat the problem, but given the magnitude of the situation, “only with concerted and highly targeted international aid, and with the full participation of the Mozambican government, will it be possible to put an end to “To the problem, he emphasized.
For Fernando Jorge Cardoso, professor and researcher at the Center for International Studies of Iscte – Lisbon University Institute, with extensive experience in the analysis of African issues, the Cabo Delgado conflict “is a ‘jihadist’ war, but not only” and that “It was not caused by the discovery of gas” in the region. However, economic resources “boosted its visibility and international interest.”
In the opinion of the researcher, there are internal and external actors in this conflict and both “are relevant”: the problem of internal actors “must be handled by the Mozambican power, with the help of the Islamic Council” and that of external actors “by the government of Mozambique with international support ”, he defended.
For the researcher, “there must be an external armed intervention to protect the population”, quickly, despite considering that “the Mozambican government is reluctant to the presence of forces not controlled by itself” in the territory.
As for Portugal, “it must intervene militarily, if it is invited to do so,” but only “with the formation of specialized counter-guerrilla units and logistical support, bilaterally and multilaterally,” he stressed.
For the journalist António Mateus, Portugal “must assume its role of helping Mozambique through political and diplomatic channels, taking the matter to international organizations”, and taking advantage of the presidency that he will assume, as of January 1, of the European Council.
The objective will be that the European Union, in dialogue with the United Nations and Mozambique, can “make the Mozambican government assume that it cannot resolve the situation in Cabo Delgado without external intervention.” This external intervention “must be totally transparent, that is, it must have the United Nations hat,” he emphasized.
“Portugal must be the engine of this initiative and can integrate this external force,” he added, but not as “a country that acts directly on the ground.”
In António Mateus’ opinion, Portugal should also have “a proposal for social action for the Cabo Delgado region, to be presented to the European Union, so that it can also be discussed with the United Nations.”
Hearings on Cabo Delgado, which began on December 9, follow requests from three parties: PSD, PS and CDS-PP, which were approved on December 19.
Still without a fixed date, the hearing was already agreed between the parties, the Minister of State and Foreign Relations, Augusto Santos Silva. Meanwhile, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, asked the Portuguese foreign minister to travel to Mozambique as his envoy, to discuss the situation in Cabo Delgado with the local authorities.
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