The initial optimism that Mozambique's most notorious assassin, Anibal dos Santos Junior ("Anibalzinho"), would be rapidly returned to his prison cell after he was re-arrested in Canada on Monday, has now died away, and no-one will guess how long the extradition procedure might last.
Anibalzinho led the death squad that murdered Mozambique's top investigative journalist, Carlos Cardoso, on 22 November 2000. He was serving a prison sentence of 28 and a half years for that crime, but mysteriously disappeared from the Maputo top security prison on 9 May.
Although the general commander of the Mozambican police, Miguel dos Santos, confidently told reporters that the fugitive was still somewhere inside Mozambique, Anibalzinho was caught by the Canadian police on Monday at Toronto International Airport.
The Mozambican government is seeking his extradition - but there is no extradition treaty between Mozambique and Canada.
Anibalzinho has applied for refugee status. To anyone who knows about the Cardoso murder, such an application sounds ridiculous. But Canada takes a generous position towards refugees, and this means that Anibalzinho's case will be analysed by a judge.
Since no-one in their right mind grants refugee status to convicted murderers, Anibalzinho's request will presumably be turned down.
Anibalzinho cannot use the argument that he fears persecution in his own country - because his own country happens to be Portugal, not Mozambique. He is a Portuguese national, although it was apparently not a Portuguese passport he used on his trip to Toronto. Anibalzinho would have a difficult job convincing a judge that he feared political persecution in Portugal.
But this will take time - time during which Anibalzinho will look for a smart lawyer. Those who arranged his jail break, his false passport, and his flight to Canada, will certainly be able to pay for legal assistance.
The task of a lawyer will be to avoid extradition to Mozambique. A possible alternative would be to deport him to Portugal. A report in Friday's issue of the independent newsheet "Mediafax" claims that this is precisely the strategy being followed by Anibalzinho and his relatives.
"Mediafax" suggests Anibalzinho will argue that he fears he will be killed if he is returned to Maputo, and so he should be allowed to serve his sentence in Portugal. The Portuguese authorities could abort this scheme right away by declaring that, if Anibalzinho sets foot on Portuguese soil, he will be immediately extradited to Mozambique. But so far Lisbon has remained silent. Meanwhile, there is still no firm information as to how Anibalzinho travelled to Toronto. Neither the Mozambican nor the Canadian authorities have said what flight he was on, or what passport he was using.
The weekly paper "Savana" said on Friday it had information that Anibalzinho took the route Johannesburg-Paris-Toronto. This contradicts Thursday's claim in a second weekly, "Zambeze" that Anibalzinho flew from Matsapha airport in Swaziland via Nairobi.
There are now three conflicting accounts of the forged passport the fugitive used - some reports say it was Mozambican, some Swazi, others Algerian. Since such details cannot conceivably be regarded as sub judice, there is no good reason why they should be kept from the public. Yet from the Mozambican police there comes nothing but silence.
Meanwhile, dangerous prisoners are continuing to leave the top security jail. The latest such scandal cannot be called an escape - according to Friday's issue of the newsheet "Diario de Noticias" the two criminals concerned, named only as Gito Gago and Agostinho, paid a bribe of 200 million meticais (about 8,400 US dollars) for their freedom.
The two men were detained in late 2003 for a burglary in the house of wealthy businessman Momad Bachir Sulemane, president of the MBS group of companies. Goods stolen in this burglary turned up in Agostinho's house.
The paper's sources within the police force claimed that a Maputo City judge along with "our chiefs" was involved in the illicit release. "How is it possible for confessed criminals like these to be let go like this ?", they protested. "We know that some of our officiers have received 200 million meticais for this. Gito Gago and Agostinho are leaders of a very dangerous gang".
Fonte: AIM
