DATE=8/17/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ANGOLA / UNITA (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-252868
BYLINE=ALEX BELIDA
DATELINE=LUANDA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: As southern African leaders meet in
Mozambique, a key participant has voiced cautious
support for renewed dialogue between government
authorities and UNITA rebels in Angola. V-O-A
Southern Africa Correspondent Alex Belida in Luanda
reports the conflict in Angola is one of the main
topics at the summit agenda.
TEXT: Mozambican President Joachim Chissano is quoted
in the South African newspaper Business Day as
predicting that negotiations between the rival sides
in Angola are inevitable.
Mr. Chissano -- who takes over leadership of SADC, the
Southern African Development Community -- says such
talks must include UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi.
The Angolan government broke off a United Nations-
backed peace dialogue with UNITA last year. It
accused Mr. Savimbi of failing to live up to his
demilitarization commitments under a 1994 peace
agreement. Southern African leaders subsequently
branded Mr. Savimbi a war criminal.
But Mr. Chissano says his view is that -- in his words
-- "you come to talk with the criminal, sometimes"
The Mozambican leader goes on, "He might be persuaded
to cooperate to bring peace."
Mr. Chissano's comments come the day after UNITA
leader Savimbi -- in a Voice of America interview --
said he favors a resumption of peace talks with
Angolan authorities. At the same time, though, the
rebel leader warned his forces are prepared to fight
on indefinitely and even could strike at the Angolan
capital, Luanda, if the government persists in its
military efforts to wipe out UNITA.
But in a speech at the SADC summit in Maputo, Angolan
President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, rejected the idea
of any new negotiations with the rebels. As Mr. Dos
Santos put it, "there is nothing more to negotiate."
He also said time is not on UNITA's side.
Angola has been wracked by civil war for more than two
decades. The latest fighting has displaced hundreds
of thousands of Angolans, creating what aid workers
describe as a humanitarian crisis around the country.
(Signed)
NEB/BEL/JWH
17-Aug-1999 11:29 AM LOC (17-Aug-1999 1529 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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