Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the political situation in Mozambique and tensions between that country's opposition party's militia and state security forces.

There has been an increase in tension in Mozambique, including continuing clashes between state security forces and the opposition militia in the central provinces. We are also concerned by incidents of intimidation, kidnapping and assassinations, which may be politically motivated. We continue to urge both the government and opposition to address these tensions through dialogue and peaceful means. This is all the more important against a difficult macroeconomic context that is further affected by drought in central and southern provinces and the revelation this month of undisclosed lending, which puts an already weak economy at risk.