Mozambique safety fears

MAPUTO: London-listed Rio Tinto said yesterday it was withdrawing expatriate employees’ families from Mozambique over safety concerns, but its coal mining and shipment operations were continuing.

The move reflected growing international alarm over insecurity in Mozambique, which has seen a rise in kidnappings in cities and where government forces have clashed with Renamo opposition guerrillas in the centre and the north.

“The safety of employees and their families is the number one priority,” Rio Tinto Coal Mozambique said.

The firm mines coal in north-west Tete province and rails it to the coast. – Reuters