The Budget Monitoring Forum (FMO), an association of Mozambican civil society organizations, on Sunday applauded the extradition of former finance minister Manuel Chang to the United States.

For this Public Accounts Forum, he hopes that Chang's going to the US will help shed light on the hidden debts case.

FMO believes that the extradition of Manuel Chang to the United States of America will contribute to the clarification of the doubts and uncertainties that still exist in relation to the case," a statement in which FMO ?applauds? and ?welcomes? the decision of the Constitutional Court of South Africa reads.

FMO also believes that the judicial process in the US will help to ?hold the perpetrators accountable and restore to the Mozambican state? the $2.7 billion lost to the corruption scheme, through sovereign guarantees granted in absentia by the parliament and partners.

This NGO was part of the judicial challenge that kept extradition to the US on the table, in opposition to requests by the Mozambican Attorney General's Office (PGR) to receive him.

FMO has been following [the case] from the beginning, having submitted several interpellations to the South African judicial authorities, in a process that is considered one of the most emblematic of litigation in which civil society has played a leading role," it said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the organization reiterates ?the need for a continuous investigation for a complete clarification? of the case, with the clarification of ?all the outlines and respective responsible parties?

A spokesman for South Africa's Minister of Justice and Correctional Services told Lusa on Thursday that he was waiting for instructions from the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) to extradite Mozambique's former finance minister to the United States.

We have taken note of the order of the Constitutional Court and will attend to it accordingly. We will be advised by Interpol on the next steps," Chrispin Piri said.

Manuel Chang, 63, was arrested on December 29, 2018 at O. R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg en route to Dubai on an international arrest warrant issued by the US on December 27 for his alleged involvement in the so-called $2.7 billion hidden debts case.