Military

DATE=10/24/00

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE= ANGOLA / U -S MILITARY (L ONLY)

NUMBER=2-268360

BYLINE= ALEX BELIDA

DATELINE=PENTAGON

INTERNET=YES

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: A senior U-S defense official says the Angolan government is anxious to win increased American support, especially in the military arena. But V-O-A Pentagon Correspondent Alex Belida reports there are serious roadblocks.

TEXT: Independent arms trade monitors credit the United State with being the only country involved in the Angolan peace process that has not tried to push its military services directly on the Angolan government, unlike Portugal or Russia.

Now, though, a senior Pentagon official says the Clinton Administration wants closer defense ties with Luanda, and believes authorities there are eager for them as well.

But it is not clear just how extensive any future military cooperation can be - in large measure because of what the defense official says is lingering opposition in Congress. The opposition is led by former backers of the UNITA rebel movement, a one-time ally armed by the United States in the 1980's to counter the then Soviet-and-Cuban-backed Marxist leadership in Luanda.

The Clinton Administration now blames the rebels for violating a 1994 United Nations-backed peace agreement and actively supports sanctions against UNITA and its leaders.

However, the senior defense official tells V-O-A that Congressional opponents have prevented the administration from even going forward with a tiny, 50-thousand-dollar annual military training project with Angola's government armed forces. The proposed program would be aimed at promoting awareness in the Angolan military of democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, says blockage of the modest training effort has become what he calls "a symbol of angst" on the part of Angolan authorities and a source of frustration for the Pentagon. ///OPT/// The official says he does not believe it is the proper way to do business with a country whose oil production makes it important to the United States, which now imports about three percent of its oil needs from Angola. ///END OPT///

On the other hand, the official suggests Angolan authorities are largely to blame for the collapse of a more far-reaching collaborative defense project.

Under that project, M-P-R-I, a private U-S defense firm, would have gone to Angola with the administration's blessings to lead a multi-million-dollar military reorganization and training program.

However, the program was never implemented, and the U-S government license granted to M-P-R-I for the project expired last December. The defense official says oil-and-diamond-rich Angola declined to pay for the package, arguing the Clinton administration should foot the bill instead as a foreign aid project. The administration refused.

Pentagon sources say M-P-R-I is currently negotiating with Angola on a smaller, less expensive program that would be funded entirely by the government in Luanda. No other details are known.

/// REST OPTIONAL ///

M-P-R-I, which stands for Military Professional Resources Incorporated, is operated by former U-S military officers who provide a variety of services to the U-S government or, under U-S license, to foreign countries.

In Africa, the firm's personnel are involved in peacekeeping training projects under the auspices of the U-S African Crisis Response Initiative. M-P-R-I staff are also working in Nigeria at present on defense reform projects.

(Signed)

NEB/BEL/TDW