Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, mediator of the talks that culminated in the signing of the General Peace Agreement for Mozambique in 1992, arrives this Friday, 12, in Maputo, to participate in an event commemorating the 30th anniversary of that agreement, which despite progress in its implementation, still has important unresolved issues.

The agreement that put an end to 16 years of armed conflict in Mozambique was signed on October 4th, 1992, in the SantEgidio community headquarters in Rome, Italy, and Dom Matteo Zuppi, anticipated his trip to the Mozambican capital because of his schedule as Archbishop of Bologna and President of the Italian Episcopal Conference.

A source from the representation of the SantEgidio community in Mozambique said that Zuppi will give a lecture on Friday in the Maputo Cathedral, during which he will present his memoirs about the peace negotiations and an evaluation of the implementation process of the General Peace Agreement.

Raúl Domingos was the chief Renamo negotiator of the peace agreement, and says that Dom Matteo Zuppi was the pivot of that process "because everything revolved around him.

"He was tireless in contacting and bringing the parties together, in seeking solutions, and at various times was able to bring proposals that were consensual, thus unblocking some stalemate situations," the future Mozambican ambassador to the Vatican added to VOA.

The SantEgídio community says that these were among the world's most successful peace negotiations, and Raúl Domingos agrees, but stresses that the agreement still has unresolved issues, especially those related to the Demilitarization, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) process of the Renamo guerrillas.

"There are times when resources are lacking for the payment of allowances to demobilized soldiers and this creates, in some way, situations that can delay the process, but what we can see is that the parties have been making efforts so that everything runs according to what is established in the agreements," he emphasizes.

However, the cardinal of Maputo, Dom Francisco Chimoio, believes that despite this effort, the authorities need to be even more committed to meeting the most basic needs of citizens, if peace is to be lasting.

For his part, Professor Carlos Samuel says it is necessary to accelerate the process of Demilitarization, Demobilization, and Reintegration of the Renamo guerrillas, because without it, peace will not be effective.