OWN CORRESPONDENT, Windhoek | Thursday 9.00pm.
ZAMBIAN President Frederick Chiluba has accused Unita rebels in Angola of defying the 1994 peace accords signed in Lusaka in an attempt to end 16 years of civil war.
Chiluba appealed to Unita on Wednesday night to support current United Nations mediation to restore peace in the Southern African country. “We in Zambia are deeply concerned with these sad developments,” Chiluba said. A Zambian government spokesman, Richard Sakala, on Thursday denied reports that Zambia was supporting Unita.
THURSDAY, 1.30PM
AT least 110 pro-government Angolan refugees have fled into northern Namibia after suffering attacks in south-east Angola, Namibian state television reported on Thursday.
The group described being attacked by “sympathisers” of the rebel Unita movement in retaliation for having welcomed government police into the area. The police are said to be under bombardment by Unita troops in the Calai area, 800km north-east of the Namibian capital Windhoek.
Following the failure of Unita in March to meet the disarmament and territorial hand-over requirements of the 1994 peace accords, low-level warfare between government and Unita troops has resumed.
Though the refugees wish to remain near the border, Namibian Home Affairs Minister Jerry Ekandjo says they will be deported back to Angola if they do not accept transport to an official camp far south of the border.
Two weeks ago, 73 young men who escaped Angola in an effort to avoid conscription into the government forces were arrested and returned home, according to the National Society for Human Rights.
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