A prominent constitutional lawyer has died after being shot outside a cafe in the Mozambican capital, Maputo.

Gilles Cistac, of French origin, was a central figure in a sensitive debate about autonomy for Mozambique's provinces and decentralising power.

He said that such a move - a demand of the opposition Renamo party - would be constitutional.

Maputo Central Hospital director Joao Fumane said Mr Cistac died after four hours of surgery.

Earlier, a spokesman for President Filipe Nyusi said the government considered the shooting a "macabre act" and strongly condemned it.

The law professor was a "very important figure" in Mozambique's society and the interior ministry had been urged to find the gunmen and punish them, Antonio da Costa Gaspar told reporters.

Mr Cistac was a naturalised Mozambican citizen of French origin who had lived and worked in the country since 1993, according to the state-run Mozambique News Agency (AIM).

A professor of law at Mozambique's University of Eduardo Mondlane, he had worked over the years as an adviser to several government ministries.