/ 21 November 2000

ANGOLAN REBELS ‘POSE NO THREAT’

ANGOLA’S UNITA rebels lack the capacity to threaten the government in Luanda despite an increase in guerrilla activity, the country’s army chief said in a radio interview. ”Contrary to what may be thought, these guerrillas are not increasing their actions, but decreasing them,” General Joao Batista de Matos told state-owned Radio Nacional. The rebel group has recently stepped up guerrilla attacks around the oil-and-diamond-rich southern African state. A UNITA attack last Wednesday left dozens killed and wounded near the central city of Huambo. – Reuters