Chris Gordon
Unita troops have moved into the Cuango Valley, threatening diamond mining operations there, as the war moves into a guerrilla phase.
Diamond mining company Sociedade Desenvolvimento de Mineiro (SDM) has withdrawn its staff to Luanda, except for security and senior management, who remain to protect equipment and assess the degree of threat from Unita.
The Cuango Valley consistently produces the world’s second-most valuable gems, after Namibia, and for years was the biggest source of revenue for Unita before it was handed back as part of a deal with the government at the beginning of 1998.
The assault on the Cuango follows the capture of key Unita towns by the Angolan army and air force.
Bailondu, Unita’s military headquarters, fell to the Angolan Army, FAA, a week after the town was heavily bombed. Andulo, home of Unita leader Jonas Savimbi, was captured two weeks later, almost intact. Savimbi’s current whereabouts are unknown.
The rebel group conceded the loss of its bases, but remains committed to guerrilla activity, according to Unita’s representative in Lisbon, Rui Oliveira.
“The guerrilla actions will obviously include the province of Luanda and the city of Luanda,” Oliveira said.
Fighting between Unita and FAA is taking place around the town of Xa Muteba, 60km from the mines. Ashton Mining was not prepared to discuss the military situation, but it is clear that fighting is continuing and the mines have not fallen to Unita.
The region around the mines is protected by the FAA, as well as by Alpha 5, a mining security firm. Local civil defence groups also operate in the region, armed mainly with AK-47 assault rifles.
However, Unita made it clear after the fall of its headquarters that it would target Brazilian interests in Angola, following Brazilian support for the government at the United Nations.
The most accessible of these are the two diamond mining joint ventures, SDM and Catoca. Catoca is less vulnerable than the river-based mining operation in the Cuango Valley.
Recapture of the Cuango could provide fresh funding for the rebel group, enough to continue a long war
The mining town, in a deceptively peaceful setting among rolling hills and grasslands above the Cuango river, was Unita’s centre of diamond operations until the end of 1997. But the reality of violence and danger has never left the region. With SDM opening new mining sites in July and October, including a new river diversion, the mines may have become a temptation to the rebel organisation.
SDM’s mining operations have been suspended for the time being, though processing operations will continue this week.
Unita has been able to keep its own illicit diamond mining more or less out of the public eye since mid-1998, when the UN imposed sanctions aimed at cutting the movement’s diamond trading links. Their trading has been in lower-quality diamonds worth up to $255-million last year, diamond analysts believe.
If Unita recaptures the region, and restarts mining operations, the sanctions on diamonds will be severely tested, as high-quality diamonds move with ease illegally on to the markets.
The attack started only days after De Beers announced that it would, for the time being, no longer buy rough diamonds from Angola, except those produced by SDM, which has a sales contract with the Central Selling Organisation. A new flood of illicit Cuango diamonds would pose a serious problem for the cartel.
The handful of diamond dealers prepared to take the risk of trading with Unita are likely to find themselves spotlighted by UN investigations.
Unita’s objective may be simply to close down the state-backed SDM operation, which is just becoming successful, rather than risk mining high-profile and traceable diamonds.
Recapture of the Cuango could provide fresh funding for the rebel group, enough to continue a long war. Both Unita and the government have signalled that the war will not end quickly. Angolan Deputy Foreign Minister George Chicoty, in a statement in Luanda, said war would continue unless Savimbi disarmed his illegal troops.
Unita wants to reverse the Lusaka peace protocols, which the international community will not accept at present. Western diplomats in Luanda have made it clear that the international community no longer believes that negotiations with Savimbi would produce anything other than a rerun of the last peace process, a new cycle of negotiations to buy time for fresh re-arming. “Even if there are talks, what next?” was the question raised.
Unfortunately, the answer is not a quick peace settlement.