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Annan Fears Political, Military Impasse in Angola

Recommends keeping U.N. office in Angola
By Judy Aita
Washington File United Nations Correspondent
United Nations -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the U.N. Security
Council October 12 that he fears that Angola is falling into "a new
phase of political and military impasse," which could exacerbate
security and humanitarian problems in Namibia and Zambia.
In a written report to the council, the secretary-general said that
"despite growing pressure from civil society, particularly church
groups, for a political settlement of the conflict, fighting is
continuing, with devastating effects on the population. Government
forces have made significant progress in eroding the conventional war
capability of UNITA, which is resorting increasingly to guerrilla-type
operations in many areas in the pursuit of its aim to make the country
ungovernable."
Annan said that UNITA fighters have infiltrated government-controlled
areas to carry out acts of sabotage and have ambushed and attacked
civilian convoys in desperate attempts to get food, medicine, and fuel
supplies.
Annan praised the Angolan government for increasing its respect for
human rights and beginning to develop its ability to deal with human
rights issues. "Human rights work is no longer seen as a clandestine
activity, but as a normal vehicle for positive and incremental social
change," he said.
The humanitarian situation in Angola has remained serious, with 59,000
people being uprooted because of fighting in 13 provinces in the last
six months, the secretary-general reported. At the end of August there
were more than 2.7 million internally displaced persons in the
country.
Annan recommended that the council renew the mandate of the U.N.
Office in Angola for another six months until April 15, 2001.
"Despite the absence of a real breakthrough and the frustrations over
the slow progress towards a peaceful resolution of the situation in
Angola, the United Nations Office in Angola continues to play an
essential role in providing assistance to the government in the area
of human rights capacity-building, as well as in helping to mobilize
humanitarian support from the international community," he said.
(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)