Chris Gordon
Diplomatic attempts to pull together Angola’s peace process have reached the 11th hour, with a unanimous vote by the United Nations Security Council to impose sanctions on the Angolan rebel group Unita for non-compliance with the peace accords.
The sanctions will come into effect on September 30.
The next moves now depend on Unita’s seriousness – and on the Angolan government’s famously subtle politicking.
At issue is Unita’s refusal to move forward on matters in the governing Lusaka peace agreements, among them the handover of territory to state control, including the key diamond mines. The demobilisation and disarming of Unita is also being demanded.
This has – in theory at least – been carried out twice, in 1992 and 1995/6. The UN says it has not been able to monitor Unita’s compliance adequately.
Critics of the UN’s peacekeeping operation say long delays have given Unita the time to reform and rearm. Reports in recent months have made it clear that Unita still has an army and supply routes.
The US State Department said last week Savimbi has ”tens of thousands of [armed] troops under his command … who have not demobilised”.
Unita indicated a feeling of betrayal by its erstwhile allies in the West. ”We are handing over our areas to the government,” said General Horacio Junjuvili, Unita’s assistant representative in the peace process. ”We are telling them about the armed men still out there. What else must we do?”
Unita said last Sunday it would fulfil Security Council demands to avert new sanctions, but officials close to the peace process said they doubt the organisation’s will to comply.
The sanctions call on all UN members to bar the entry, transit or residence of senior Unita officials and their adult family members, unless on official government business. All Unita offices in UN member territories are to be closed.
UN members must ban all flights and related supplies into any area which may be Unita- controlled. The only exemptions are UN- approved humanitarian supplies.