OWN CORRESPONDENT, New York | Friday 9.00pm.
THE United Nations said on Friday that an ”immediate re-adjustment” of the its observer mission in Angola will start in early December if all hopes for peace have collapsed by then.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said the 1,100-strong UN force would pull back to six main regional headquarters in large cities in Angola and the movement would be complete by the end of January, 1999.
Annan said if his special envoy to Angola, Issa Diallo, fails to revive the peace process between Unita rebels and the Luanda government, and if the UN force is obstructed in its activities, he will order a pullback of UN troops to the regional headquarters in Uige, Saurimo, Luena, Menongue, Huambo and Lubango.
Annan said he has urged the parties in Angola, but in particular Unita, ”to fulfil their responsibilities before the people and the international community and to take resolute steps to avert another full-scale war.”
Unita has failed to meet the terms of the 1994 Lusaka peace accords which required it to demobilise its troops, give up territories under its control, reintegrate into society and take part in the government under President Jos Eduardo dos Santos.
* Fighting has been reported in northern Angola between government forces and rebels loyal to Unita leader Jonas Savimbi. The fighting is going on around the town of Malanje, capital of the province of the same name. The pro-government press reported in Luanda that rebels had seized the small town of Kakulama, 60km from Malanje. MiG fighter aircraft flew over Luanda Thursday, apparently heading for the combat zone.
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