US spies land in SA to discuss Mozambique – Rapport
US intelligence officials were in South Africa last week to discuss the situation in Mozambique with their counterparts. Rising political tensions and a looming popular uprising have Mozambique on edge as the country holds its breath over the findings of an inquiry into October’s national election, which the ruling party, Frelimo, won amid great controversy.
The Americans’ C-17 Globemaster plane landed at the Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport (KMIL). According to Rapport’s sources, it is also here that meetings with the National Intelligence Coordinating Committee (NICOC) were held.
America has already had a training team in Mozambique for the last few years helping with the training of a specialist response unit in the Mozambican army.
At the same time, a British Air Force Airbus A400M landed in Gaborone, Botswana on Friday. The call sign of this aircraft indicates an emergency operational flight.
According to Rapport’s aviation sources, several meetings have been held at the Lanseria airport in the last few days to discuss the emergency evacuation of various embassies and foreigners in Mozambique.
The respective forward teams in South Africa wanted to make sure, among other things, that there is enough fuel at Lanseria for additional flights to temporarily house their countrymen who may be removed from Mozambique before they fly out of the country.
The various agencies of the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are all involved in these plans.
The operations – should it become necessary – will be coordinated from South Africa and Botswana, Rapport learned. NICOC consists of representatives from state security, defense and crime intelligence, as well as the financial intelligence centre.
Additional departments may also be involved
