/ 29 July 1999

ANNAN DISLIKES SAVIMBI WARRANT

UNITED NATIONS Secretary General Kofi Annan criticized on Tuesday an arrest warrant issued by Angola’s capital Luanda for Jonas Savimbi, leader of the country’s Unita rebels. Angolan authorities issued an arrest warrant against Savimbi Saturday, accusing him of “crimes of armed rebellion, sabotage, traffic and use of banned war machinery, and killing.” Luanda blames Savimbi, 66, for the resumption of Angola’s civil war last November by failing to adhere to peace accords signed in 1994 to end the long-running civil conflict. “I know it is sometimes difficult for people to sit across the table and to deal with enemies, particularly when they feel that those individuals have not always honored their commitments,” the UN chief said in New York. “But you don’t make peace with friends, you make peace with enemies. On Tuesday, the rebels closed in on the capital, seizing Catete, a town only 60km east of Luanda.