Mozambique War to Top Agenda in Bush-Chissano Talks

MAPUTO, Mozambique — Mozambique’s guerrilla war will top the agenda when President Joaquim Chissano meets President Bush in Washington next Tuesday.

“A review of the process toward achieving peace in Mozambique will be at the top of our list,” Melissa Wells, the U.S. ambassador in Maputo, said.

The visit, Chissano’s first to the Bush White House, comes at a crucial time for the African nation.

In addition to the 14-year-old civil war, Chissano faces a wave of strikes by workers dissatisfied with a U.S.-supported economic plan.

The plan, which introduced a sharp currency devaluation, price rises, controls on credit and a bigger role for private enterprise was welcomed by the International Monetary Fund and has produced some results, including a 5.5% increase in the economy in 1988.