DATE=1/21/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ANGOLA / ZAMBIA (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-258286
BYLINE=ALEX BELIDA
DATELINE=JOHANNESBURG
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: U-N officials are describing the security
situation along the Angolan-Zambian border as
volatile. V-O-A southern Africa correspondent
Alex Belida reports there are growing fears the
civil war in Angola could spread into Zambia as
it has already done into Namibia.
TEXT: Thousands of Angolan refugees have crossed
into Zambia in recent weeks to flee the latest
fighting. But news reports say there has already
been another spillover effect from the war with
suspected UNITA rebels allegedly attacking
several villages in Zambia's northwestern Chavuma
district.
UNITA has denied any involvement in the raids.
And a senior Zambian official, Deputy Defense
Minister Mike Mlongoti, was quoted this week on
Zambian state radio as saying the identity of the
attackers is not clear.
Authorities in Lusaka are reported to have
dispatched additional security personnel to the
border area and are taking other unspecified
measures to defend Zambian citizens. President
Frederick Chiluba has said his country is neutral
in the conflict but has warned he will not allow
Zambian territory to be violated.
Angola's government has in the past accused
Zambia of providing clandestine support to the
UNITA rebels - a charge Mr. Chiluba has denied.
Rebel Foreign Secretary Alcides Sakala tells V-O-
A that UNITA's policy is not to enter Zambia.
But in a telephone interview this week, he urged
Zambian leader Chiluba to be vigilant for what he
says may be planned Angolan government military
provocations.
There has been no immediate reaction to the rebel
official's charge from authorities in Luanda.
Fighting resumed in Angola in late 1998 and
recent government offensives have driven the
rebels from key strongholds, including their
important base at Jamba in southeastern Angola,
close to the borders with Namibia and Zambia.
The heavy fighting around Jamba has apparently
triggered the latest exodus of refugees into
Zambia. U-N refugee agency officials in Lusaka
say they face serious logistical difficulties
trying to provide relief supplies to the new
arrivals and have called for the immediate
relocation of the refugees away from the remote
border area.
The U-N High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako
Ogata, is expected in Zambia Sunday to visit
refugee camps. (Signed)
NEB/BEL/GE/KL
21-Jan-2000 08:42 AM EDT (21-Jan-2000 1342 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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