OWN CORRESPONDENT, Luanda | Wednesday 7.30PM.
ANGOLAN troops in the enclave of Cabinda are on alert in case the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo spills over the border.
Cabinda Governor Amaro Taty said the situation was likely to become “complicated” in the DRC, where Tutsi-led forces have mounted a rebellion President Laurent Kabila.
He said that the Cabindan army was capable of stopping any incursions by DRC troops or rebels. Rebel forces are engaged in a campaign to seize control of key towns in the south-west of the DRC as well as in the east.
The frontier post of Yema, which links Cabinda and the DRC oil town of Moanda in the south-western province of Bas-Congo, has been closed. Moanda is reported to be under rebel control, and rebel forces are reported to be deployed along the frontier.
The United Nations temporary special envoy to Angola, Lakhdar Brahimi, is meanwhile set to brief Deputy President Thabo Mbeki on the Angolan situation.
Brahimi, who arrived in Cape Town earlier on Wednesday, is scheduled to pay a 30-minute courtesy call later in the evening. Foreign Minister Alfred Nzo is also expected at the meeting.
Nzo told a media briefing in Cape Town last week that while the situation remained fluid in Angola, the South African government’s overall assessment remained positive.
In eastern Angola a Russian Antonov cargo plane carrying mining equipment has crashed at Saurimo about 800km east of Luanda. The Russian pilot, Victor Nikolevitch, was killed, and seven others on board injured.
The plane belonged to the Angolan airline Allada and was carrying 14 tons of equipment for use in the Katoka diamond mine, which is being developed by the Russian company Alrosa in co-operation with Angolan, Brazilian and Israeli companies, the Russian newsagency ITAR-Tass reported.