DATE=10/11/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ANGOLA / UNITA / WAR (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-254871
BYLINE=ALEX BELIDA
DATELINE=JOHANNESBURG
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: In Angola, a top official of the UNITA
movement says rebel forces are prepared to fight
on for years if necessary. More from V-O-A
Southern Africa Correspondent Alex Belida in
Johannesburg.
TEXT: UNITA Foreign Secretary Alcides Sakala is
defiant. Although Angola has been ravaged by
more than two decades of civil war, Mr. Sakala
says the rebels are prepared to fight on.
// SAKALA ACTUALITY //
We are resisting and we can resist for 20
years. Time for us is not a problem.
// END ACTUALITY //
Speaking from an undisclosed location inside
Angola in a satellite telephone interview with V-
O-A, the UNITA official claims the latest
offensive by Angolan government troops aimed at
wiping out the rebel movement has failed.
The government side has had no recent comment
on the fighting but has suggested privately
Angolan troops are making headway. There has
been no independent word on the status of the
war. However, diplomatic sources and security
analysts say they believe the government
offensive launched in mid-September has stalled.
Despite the latest fighting, UNITA official
Sakala says the rebel movement remains interested
in national reconciliation. But he says it is up
to Angolan President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos to
agree to a new round of peace talks.
// SAKALA ACTUALITY //
The reality is that he (Dos Santos) is
losing the war. How long he's going to
hold (on) with these difficulties,
military, politically and economically, I
think it is up to him. We believe that only
dialogue can really help to find a lasting
solution for our country.
// END ACTUALITY //
But Mr. Sakala rules out any renewed negotiations
based on the country's 1994 United Nations
brokered peace agreement, known as the Lusaka
Protocol. He says President Dos Santos is to
blame for the collapse of that accord.
// OPT SAKALA ACTUALITY //
The Lusaka Protocol is dead, dead and was
killed by Dos Santos himself. We have a new
political reality in the country, which has
emerged from his declaration of war.
That's the reality of this country today so
the Lusaka Protocol belongs to the past.
// END OPT ACTUALITY //
Government officials in Luanda have ruled out any
further negotiations with UNITA and its leader,
Jonas Savimbi. Angolan authorities and United
Nations officials blame Mr. Savimbi and the
rebels for the resumption of fighting late last
year and the subsequent collapse of the peace
agreement. They say UNITA never lived up to its
commitments under the Lusaka Protocol to
demilitarize and turn over all territory under
rebel control to the central government. (Signed)
NEB/BEL/GE/KL
11-Oct-1999 07:44 AM EDT (11-Oct-1999 1144 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
