DATE=12/17/98
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-42168
TITLE=ANGOLA FIGHTING
BYLINE=ALEX BELIDA
DATELINE=JOHANNESBURG
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: THE OUTBREAK OF HEAVY FIGHTING IN ANGOLA'S CENTRAL
HIGHLANDS BETWEEN GOVERNMENT TROOPS AND UNITA REBELS HAS RAISED
THE PROSPECT OF RENEWED CIVIL WAR THROUGHOUT THE BATTLE-SCARRED
COUNTRY. SOUTHERN AFRICA CORRESPONDENT ALEX BELIDA, WHO RECENTLY
WAS IN ANGOLA, HAS THIS ASSESSMENT OF THE SITUATION.
TEXT: JUST A LITTLE MORE THAN FOUR-YEARS AGO, UNITA AND THE
ANGOLAN GOVERNMENT SIGNED A PEACE AGREEMENT IN ZAMBIA TO END TWO
DECADES OF BLOODY CIVIL WAR. UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF WHAT IS
KNOWN AS THE LUSAKA PROTOCOL, THE REBEL MOVEMENT WAS TO HAVE
DEMILITARIZED COMPLETELY -- DEMOBILIZING AND DISARMING ALL ITS
SOLDIERS. IT WAS ALSO SUPPOSED TO TURN OVER ALL TERRITORY UNDER
ITS CONTROL TO CENTRAL GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES. IN RETURN, UNITA
OFFICIALS WERE TO BE INTEGRATED INTO THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT AND
ARMED FORCES.
BUT UNITA, WHILE TALKING OF ITS COMMITMENT TO THE PEACE PROCESS,
NEVER FULLY TRUSTED THE GOVERNMENT IN LUANDA. AND, AS A RESULT,
IT NEVER COMPLIED WITH ALL OF ITS OBLIGATIONS. THE UNITED
NATIONS AND FOREIGN DIPLOMATS OVERSEEING THE PEACE PROCESS
COMPLAINED REPEATEDLY, EVENTUALLY IMPOSING AN ARRAY OF SANCTIONS
AGAINST UNITA IN A BID TO FORCE ITS COMPLIANCE.
BUT IT WAS TO NO AVAIL. UNITA KEPT A HIDDEN ARMY OF ABOUT
30-THOUSAND MEN AND CONTINUED TO PURCHASE MODERN WEAPONS,
CIRCUMVENTING INTERNATIONAL SANCTIONS TO SELL DIAMONDS FOR ARMS.
IT ALSO CONTINUED TO HOLD ONTO SEVERAL AREAS, INCLUDING ITS TWIN
STRONGHOLDS OF ANDULO AND BAILUNDO IN ANGOLA'S CENTRAL HIGHLANDS.
FRUSTRATED ANGOLAN OFFICIALS EARLIER THIS YEAR DECIDED ENOUGH WAS
ENOUGH. THEY CUT OFF ALL CONTACTS WITH UNITA LEADER JONAS
SAVIMBI, PREVENTED THE U-N SPECIAL ENVOY IN ANGOLA FROM MEETING
THE REBEL CHIEF, AND RECOGNIZED A BREAKAWAY UNITA FACTION BASED
IN LUANDA.
THEY ALSO EVENTUALLY DECIDED TO STAGE A SURPRISE ATTACK AGAINST
ANDULO AND BAILUNDO WITH THE AIM OF CAPTURING OR KILLING MR.
SAVIMBI AND HIS TOP AIDES. CALLING THE UNITA LEADER A MAN WHO
KNOWS ONLY HOW TO KILL, DESTROY, AND DIVIDE, ANGOLAN PRESIDENT
JOSE EDUARDO DOS SANTOS SAID THIS MONTH THE ONLY WAY TO DEAL WITH
MR. SAVIMBI WAS TO NEUTRALIZE HIM, POLITICALLY AND MILITARILY.
BUT THE GOVERNMENT'S EFFORT TO WIPE OUT UNITA HAS BACKFIRED.
WELL-EQUIPPED UNITA FORCES NOT ONLY REPELLED THE GOVERNMENT'S
ASSAULTS ON ANDULO AND BAILUNDO, THEY COUNTER-ATTACKED. IN
RECENT DAYS UNITA TROOPS IN THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS HAVE BESIEGED
THE KEY GOVERNMENT-HELD TOWN OF CUITO AND THREATENED THE NEARBY
GOVERNMENT-HELD TOWN OF HUAMBO.
THE FIGHTING HAS ONCE AGAIN CREATED A HUMANITARIAN NIGHTMARE IN
ANGOLA -- WITH TENS OF THOUSANDS OF ANGOLANS FORCED FROM THEIR
HOMES AND IN NEED OF RELIEF AID. THE UNITED NATIONS HAS ALL BUT
SAID IT CAN DO NOTHING TO STOP THE RENEWED WARFARE, SAYING ITS
PEACEKEEPING MISSION IN ANGOLA, NOW NUMBERING FEWER THAN 700
SOLDIERS, IS SIMPLY TOO SMALL.
IT IS NOT CLEAR WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT. EVEN BEFORE THE LATEST
FIGHTING, U-N SECRETARY GENERAL KOFI ANNAN SAID THE PROSPECTS FOR
REVIVING THE PEACE PROCESS IN ANGOLA WERE BLEAK. UNITA SAYS IT
IS WILLING TO CONSIDER FRESH NEGOTIATIONS. BUT THE GOVERNMENT
SIDE, HAVING ALREADY SEVERED CONTACTS WITH MR. SAVIMBI, HAS NOT
BOTHERED TO RESPOND TO THE OFFER.
ON THE MILITARY SIDE, THE SITUATION SEEMS EQUALLY UNCERTAIN. NO
ONE BELIEVES UNITA HAS THE MILITARY STRENGTH TO TAKE CONTROL OF
THE ENTIRE COUNTRY. ON THE OTHER HAND, IT APPEARS THE GOVERNMENT
DOES NOT HAVE THE CAPABILITY TO WIPE OUT UNITA -- UNLESS IT CAN
DRAW IN TROOPS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES TO HELP. AUTHORITIES IN
LUANDA ARE UNDERSTOOD TO HAVE DISCUSSED THAT PROSPECT WITH OTHER
COUNTRIES IN THE REGION, BUT THEIR RESPONSES ARE SO FAR NOT
KNOWN. (SIGNED)
NEB/BEL/JWH
17-Dec-98 9:11 AM EST (1411 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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