DATE=11/16/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ANGOLA / UNITA (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-256219
BYLINE=ALEX BELIDA
DATELINE=JOHANNESBURG
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Angola's top army officer says the government
knows where UNITA rebel leader Jonas Savimbi is and
suggests his capture or death could be imminent.
Correspondent Alex Belida reports from our Southern
Africa Bureau.
TEXT: Army chief of staff General Joao de Matos says
Angolan government forces are tracking rebel leader
Savimbi and are striking at his position every day.
The general gives no details. But according to
Angola's state-run news agency (ANGOP), he says
government troops will continue their offensive
against UNITA until what he calls -- the rebel war
machine -- is totally annihilated.
General de Matos says UNITA's military capacity has
already been drastically reduced since government
troops launched their latest offensive against the
rebels in mid-September.
That ground offensive, supported by heavy air attacks,
has seen the rebels driven from their traditional
strongholds in Angola's Central Highlands.
UNITA officials have not been available for comment
for nearly two-weeks. But in their last public
message, dated October 28th, the rebels said their
forces were intact and that neither men nor military
equipment had been lost. There has been no
independent confirmation of the situation in Angola.
Fighting resumed late last year after the government
of President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos accused UNITA of
failing to live up to its pledge to demilitarize under
the terms of a 1994 peace agreement.
UNITA has since indicated its willingness to resume
peace talks. But President Dos Santos has effectively
ruled out any further negotiations with Mr. Savimbi,
who has been branded a war criminal by the government.
(SIGNED)
NEB/BEL/JWH/RAE
16-Nov-1999 09:50 AM EDT (16-Nov-1999 1450 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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