MAPUTO, September 10, 2008 (AFP) - Mozambique's ruling Frelimo party will begin five-day talks to choose its candidate for 2009 presidential elections on Thursday, a party official said.

Frelimo spokesman Edson Macuacua told a news conference Wednesday that President Armando Guebuza, who is also leader of the party, will chair the session, but could not confirm if the party would endorse Guebuza for a second term.

'We will only wait for the decisions of the Frelimo political commission which elects a presidential candidate, according to the terms of the party's constitution,' he said.

Guebuza was elected into office in 2004, replacing Joaquim Chissano who took over in 1986 after the death of president Samora Machel in a plane crash in South Africa.

The date of next year's poll has still to be set.