DATE=9/15/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ANGOLA SITREP (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-253917
BYLINE=ALEX BELIDA
DATELINE=JOHANNESBURG
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: United Nations officials in Angola say the
humanitarian situation in the war-torn country remains
critical. V-O-A Southern Africa Correspondent Alex
Belida reports on this and on the release of four
South Africans held in an Angolan jail for 20 months
on charges of aiding the rebel movement UNITA.
TEXT: The U-N Humanitarian Assistance Coordinating
Unit in Angola says the number of internally displaced
people in the country continues to rise as a result of
attacks on villages, ambushes on the few accessible
roads, and clashes between government forces and UNITA
rebels.
But the U-N group also says aid workers continue to
face operational difficulties in attempting to provide
relief supplies to the tens of thousand who are
displaced and others in need. It says these
difficulties include a lack of access to all those in
need, the lack of safe security conditions and fuel
shortages.
Fighting resumed in Angola late last year as a U-N
brokered peace process collapsed. The government has
accused UNITA of responsibility for the renewed
fighting, charging the rebels failed to demilitarize
as promised under a 1994 peace agreement and instead
continued to import weapons, despite a U-N arms
embargo.
Four South Africans detained in Angola early last year
on suspicion of flying supplies to UNITA in violation
of the arms embargo returned home Tuesday. They said
they were relieved to be reunited with family and
friends.
Meanwhile, South African Deputy Foreign Affairs
Minister Aziz Pahad has rejected new claims by a
senior Angolan official that South Africa has been
violating the embargo against UNITA. The South
African Broadcasting Corporation quoted Mr. Pahad as
denying relations between South Africa and Angola have
deteriorated.
Angolan officials have frequently criticized
neighboring countries for failing to cut off UNITA's
clandestine supply routes in the Southern Africa
region. (Signed)
NEB/BEL/JWH/JO
15-Sep-1999 11:19 AM EDT (15-Sep-1999 1519 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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