By Manuel Mucari and Custodio Cossa MAPUTO (Reuters) -Mozambique opposition leader Venancio Mondlane returned from self-exile on Thursday, defiantly claiming to have won a hotly contested October election,

Thousands of people turned out to meet Mozambique's main opposition leader after he returned home from more than two months in exile Thursday to push his claim that he won the October presidential election.

Mozambique's opposition leader Venâncio Mondlane has returned home from exile where he has been in hiding following October's disputed presidential election that sparked deadly protests.

Mozambique opposition leader Venancio Mondlane returned home on Thursday, after fleeing in the days following a hotly contested October election that sparked demonstrations in which scores of protesters have been killed.

Mozambique's main opposition leader returned from self-imposed exile on Thursday clutching a bible and saying he still rejects the results of a disputed election last year that has sparked more than two months of protests and a violent crackdown by security forces.

Some speculate that Frelimo is instigating chaos as an excuse to crack down. Security forces have killed around 300 people since the protests began, including 176 in the final week of December alone,