OWN CORRESPONDENT, United Nations | Wednesday
THE UN Security Council on Tuesday “strongly condemned” recent attacks by Angolan Unita rebels and urged the release of all civilians – both children and adults – currently being held by the armed group.
The council particularly condemned Unita attacks on the town of Caxito, 60km from Luanda, and called for the release of children abducted in the Caxito fighting, according to council president James Cunningham of the United States.
They “called for an immediate release of all children abducted from Caxito,” he added.
A May 5 Unita attack on Caxito left 100 people dead and 100 missing, according to Angolan state television. The rebels also kidnapped 60 children from a local orphanage, the report said.
Council members welcomed the reaffirmation by the Angolan government of its willingness to engage in dialogue with Unita and urged the parties to become involved in the search for a peaceful settlement, according to Cunningham.
They also expressed their intent to maintain sanctions against Unita, and emphasised the importance of the Lusaka Protocol calling for a cease-fire between the two sides.
Meanwhile, Eleven aid workers remained “unaccounted for” on Tuesday following an attack by suspected Unita rebels on a northern Angolan town on Monday, 180km east of the capital Luanda.
Six staff members from World Vision were among those who had not reported in, the Christian relief organisation said. Unconfirmed accounts said that three aid workers from the Portuguese NGO AMI, two from MSF-Belgium and two people from the Catholic mission were also “missing” following the attack on Golungo Alto, in Kwanza Norte Province.
According to a World Vision statement, Unita forces “captured” Golungo Alto, 50km north of the provincial capital Ndalatando.
At least four staff members from World Vision managed to trek to Ndalatando on Monday. Humanitarian sources said on Tuesday that 700 families fleeing the attack had been registered and WFP and World Vision had identified a “secure site” outside the provincial capital for an expected influx of displaced from Golungo Alto. A World Vision truck was in the area “to transport staff as they are found, as well as women and children in need of assistance,” the agency’s statement said.
Angola’s civil war has raged almost non-stop since the country’s independence from Portugal in 1975. – AFP, IRIN
ZA*NOW:
Where are the children? May 9, 2001
Unita kidnaps 60 Angolan kids May 8, 2001
Unita moves to offensive: 100 dead May 8, 2001
22