/ 21 April 1999

SEPARATISTS WANT TALKS

ANGOLAN separatist rebels of the Cabinda Enclave Liberation Front said on Tuesday they urgently want to negotiate with Paris the release of two French hostages abducted in March, together with two Portuguese.On March 10, a French employee of oil company LPF and another from Boyangol — the Angolan subsidiary of the French Bouygues group — were abducted while visiting an exploration site 30km from Cabinda town.The two men are “in good shape”, according to a rebel spokesman.He said the Angolan army is conducting a major offensive against the separatists in Cabinda, which could endanger the lives of the hostages. Most Angolan oil comes from Cabinda, an enclave bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo.