THURSDAY, 5.30PM:
A DISGRUNTLED Unita rebel leader said on Thursday that the United Nations’ decision to impose sanctions on the movement (see below) is proof of the UN’s failure. ”The UN has thus admitted that it was incapable of bringing peace to Angola,” said Horacio Njunjuvili, a member of Unita’s delegation to the inter-Angolan peace commission.
”The sanctions will weaken Angolan political forces. The peace process will therefore depend on the attitude of the government. If the government thinks Unita is fragile now and if it profits from the situation, that’s another problem.”
The Unita radio station claims the movement has handed over large quantities of weapons and registered ”a large number of superior officers including generals Bock and Chimuco”, both top operations chiefs, to the UN Mission in Angola (Minua), which is monitoring implementation of the military and political pact.
THURSDAY, 8.30AM:
THE United Nations Security Council has imposed air and travel sanctions on the rebel Angolan movement Unita, and ordered the closing of its offices abroad, effective from today (Thursday).
The sanctions against Unita were in fact approved by the Security Council in late August, following fighting between Unita and government forces in the north of the country. But the movement’s leader Jonas Savimbi managed to persuade the UN into allowing him several extensions.
The sanctions, drafted by former colonial power Portugal, the USA and Russia, ban any flights to Angola except those approved by the government, and prohibit Unita from purchasing equipment or services abroad.
Last night’s resolution condemned Unita for its repeated failure to meet obligations under a peace agreement, including disarming its troops and integrating them into the national army. But Unita’s biggest problem may be that Angola’s friendship with the two new Congo regimes of Kinshasa and Brazzaville, cuts Unita off from supply routes used to smuggle out diamonds and import weapons.