WEDNESDAY, 11.00AM
ALMOST 3 500 more former rebel troops of the National Union for the Total Indedpendence of Angola (Unita ) have submitted to demobilisation by the United Nations. Unita and the Angolan government have also agreed that a Unita airbase at Negage in the north of the country should be handed over to Luanda’s control, possibly as early as the beginning of next week.
However, diplomats said the latest developments will not be sufficient to persuade the UN to suspend new sanctions against Unita, due to come into effect on September 30. The rebels have come under increasing international criticism for tardiness in implementing 1994 peace accords which ended almost two decades of civil war.
The UN special envoy to Angola, Alioune Blondin Beye, warned on Monday that a resumption of conflict cannot be ruled out. He blamed Unita for what he called a near collapse of the peace pact, which provides for a political settlement and demobilisation of the rival armies with the formation of a joint national defence force. Beye said the Angolan government has upheld its end of the accords by agreeing to set up the reconciliation government and grant special status to Unita leader Jonas Savimbi as head of the main opposition party.
However, Unita has fallen short of meeting its obligations, retaining control of a large portion of Angola, maintaining troops and weapons, and continuing to operate a partisan radio station, Beye said.
Angered by Unita’s foot-dragging, the UN Security Council gave the movement until the end of this month to show “concrete and irrevocable proof” of its willingness to implement the peace agreement or face new sanctions.
The 3 500 latest troops to be demobilised come from Savimbi’s special bodyguard, the UN said. Some 70 000 former rebels have been disarmed and 10 000 have been incorporated into a new national army, but Unita still has large numbers of soldiers.
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