MAPUTO, Aug 24 (AFP) - Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano and his South African counterpart Thabo Mbeki met for nearly three hours late Thursday to review general cooperation between the two neighbouring states, an official said.

Speaking after the meeting, Mozambican Planning and Finance Minister Luisa Diogo described the meeting as "very fruitful."

A wide range of development issues were discussed, including the Cahora Bassa dam, gas pipelines and the Maputo, Beira and Nacala development corridor, said Diogo.

Alec Erwin, South Africa's Trade and Industry Minister, said the two presidents had also looked at new areas of development.

"We also spent a lot of time looking at other areas where we can cooperate, such as the Zambezi valley and the Sena railway line," said Erwin.

Diogo said the two presidents had also examined the controversial repatriation by South Africa of Mozambican illegal immigrants and the question of Mozambican miners being deported, allegedly for testing positive for HIV.

Chissano and Mbeki had instructed their ministers of labour and interior to meet more regularly to resolve these issues.

"We want South Africa to improve its repatriation methods and make sure all the people repatriated here really are Mozambican nationals," Diogo said.

The Mozambican authorities have accused the South African police of arresting Mozambicans on the street or at workplaces -- usually white-owned farms -- incarcerating them and then transporting them home by train in inhumane conditions.

The Mozambican president, according to Diogo, also expressed concern for the wellbeing of Mozambicans working illegally in South Africa, who, according to press reports, are reported by farmers to police so they don't have to pay them their wages.

The state newspaper Noticias on Thursday claimed that two Mozambicans were recently devoured by crocodiles after a white South African farmer forced them into the river so he wouldn't have to pay them their wages.

Chissano and Mbeki were given progress reports by their ministers on negotiations regarding the supply of Cahora Bassa power to two new projects, an aluminium plant at Beira and a titanium plant in southern Mozambique.

They were also informed on the talks aimed at ending the tariff war between South African power utility ESKOM and the mostly Portuguese-owned hydro-electric dam in central Mozambique.

All Cahora Bassa power has been contracted to ESKOM under a colonial agreement, making it impossible for emerging Mozambican industries to buy their electricity directly from Cahora Bassa in the local currency.

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