DATE=3/11/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ANGOLA - U-N SANCTIONS (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-260090
BYLINE=BARBARA SCHOETZAU
DATELINE=NEW YORK
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A new U-N Security Council report accuses the
leaders of several African nations of violating United
Nations sanctions against the Angolan rebel group,
UNITA. V-O-A's Barbara Schoetzau has these details on
the report, which was leaked to the news media.
TEXT: The U-N report says the presidents of at least
two African countries, Togo and Burkina Faso, have
been helping UNITA elude international sanctions that
ban the rebel group from buying arms and fuel and
trading in diamonds.
The report says officials and individuals in Congo-
Kinshasa, Congo-Brazzaville, Gabon, the Ivory Coast,
Rwanda and South Africa are also involved in violating
the U-N embargo.
And the report criticizes Belgium's diamond trading
industry, centered in the city of Antwerp, for its
willingness to traffic in UNITA diamonds.
The United Nations imposed sanctions on the sale of
UNITA diamonds in 1998 to stop the rebel group, headed
by Jonas Savimbi, from using the diamonds to finance
its war against the government.
The report says the widespread violation of the
sanctions has enabled UNITA to purchase weapons on the
international market, principally from Bulgaria.
A panel of nine experts -- led by Canadian Ambassador
Robert Fowler -- prepared the report following a six-
month long investigation. Much of the information in
the report is based on testimony from UNITA defectors.
The Security Council report recommends a series of
punitive measures against nations breaking the
embargo, including a three-year arms embargo on any
nation that supplies UNITA with weapons.
The 48-page report was to be officially presented to
Security Council members in the coming days. A
spokesperson for the United Nations says the global
organization has no comment on the report at this
time. (Signed)
NEB/NYC/BJS/JP
11-Mar-2000 11:51 AM EDT (11-Mar-2000 1651 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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