Malawi groups delay protests but tensions remain high

By Frank Phiri and Mabvuto Banda

BLANTYRE (Reuters) - Some leading Malawi rights groups agreed to postpone mass protests against President Bingu wa Mutharika by up to a month, but shops and banks in the main cities were closed on Wednesday due to fears of further bloodshed.

Civil society groups agreed to United Nations-facilitated mediation. However, they promised more protests if the president did not address the chronic poverty and fuel shortages affecting most of the southern African country's 13 million people.

The groups also signalled that they could go ahead with what they describe as a "vigil" if Mutharika did not listen to their demands.

"Parties agreed that the vigil could be held within a period of four weeks," read a joint statement issued by the groups, Mutharika loyalists and U.N. negotiators on Tuesday.

Mutharika's forces killed 19 people when they cracked down on rallies a month ago at a time when tensions were already rising between the president and foreign aid donors, costing the country close to $1 billion in badly needed aid funding.

Civil rights groups want the president to declare his wealth, solve dollar and fuel shortages that have hit the economy and restore diplomatic relations with the country's former colonial ruler and major aid donor, Britain.

The groups had dropped a deadline previously set for Wednesday for Mutharika to start a dialogue, saying they wanted to await a court ruling on whether rallies would be legal.

However, tension remained high on Wednesday. Police roamed the streets of Malawi's main commercial city of Blantyre and the capital Lilongwe while businesses were closed.