VOA News
27 Jun 2003, 19:11 UTC
Delegates from Angola's former UNITA rebel movement have elected Isaias Samakuva as their new leader.
Mr. Samakuva will assume the post left vacant last year when longtime UNITA leader, Jonas Savimbi, was killed in an ambush with government troops.
Mr. Samakuva played a diplomatic, rather than military, role during UNITA's long war against the government. He beat Paulo Lukamba Gato, who served as the interim head of UNITA immediately after Mr. Savimbi's death. Mr. Gato was considered a front-runner for the top post.
Hundreds of party loyalists have been meeting outside the capital, Luanda, at a four-day conference to select a new president. It is UNITA's first party congress since transforming itself from a rebel movement into a political party. The conference ends Friday.
The gathering also seeks to heal divisions within UNITA in anticipation of Angola's first post-war elections. Longtime Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos has not yet set a date.
As part of the peace process, UNITA currently has representatives serving in the nation's parliament in a government of national unity.
Under Jonas Savimbi, UNITA fought the Angolan government for 27 years until he was gunned down in February 2002. In April that same year, a ceasefire was signed - effectively ending the war.
At least half a million people were killed in the conflict. More than four million others have been displaced.
Some information for this report provided by AFP and Reuters.
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