The renegade general accused of leading a failed coup attempt in
Lesotho has left the kingdom along with two of his rivals as part of a
deal to restore security, the South African mediator said on Saturday.
Lieutenant
General Tlali Kamoli is under investigation for treason and murder
following the 30 August putsch, which saw the military attack several
police installations and the prime minister's residence, killing one
police officer.
Kamoli as well as a rival general, Maaparankoe
Mahao, and Lesotho police commissioner Lhotatso Tsooana left the small
mountain kingdom on Friday for "working visits" in Uganda, Sudan and
Algeria, respectively, said South African Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa in a statement.
"This
is an important confidence building measure in returning the country to
security stability as this will add to the creation of a climate that
is conducive for elections to take place in February 2015," Ramaphosa
said.
Early
last month, Ramaphosa as mediator for the Southern African Development
Community (SADC) in the Lesotho crisis, helped broker a political
agreement that re-opened parliament for the first time since June and
pushed forward national elections by more than two years.
Then on
17 October, Ramaphosa convinced Kamoli to sign a security accord that
called for him to take an indefinite "leave of absence", handing over
control to his deputy commander.
Under the accord, Mahao and
Tsooana were to similarly hand over authority to enable their two
security forces to re-establish a "harmonious relationship".
Friction
between the Lesotho military and police routinely turns violent and has
been a major destabilising force in recent months.
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