Luanda | Thursday
FIVE days after an ambush that left 252 people dead, Angola’s churches on Wednesday ordered a month-long religious fast in the name of peace, and called on rebels to stop fighting and negotiate with the government.
The Committee of Churches for Peace in Angola, a group which includes both Christian and non-Christian membership, was due to issue the 30-day decree at midday in Luanda during a special ceremony.
The move follows Friday’s ambush by Unita rebels of a passenger train which derailed when it struck an anti-tank mine in Cuanza North province.
Officials in Luanda sent a letter to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, calling the attack ”an act of barbarism.”
Annan issued his own statement condemning the attack, and said he was ”very disturbed by the military and humanitarian situation in the country”.
Angolan bishops have also sent a letter to Savimbi, urging him to call an immediate ceasefire.
”The suffering of our people compels us to reiterate our call for an urgent, simultaneous, bilateral ceasefire which would symbolise the beginning of national reconciliation and peace,” the bishops said.
Savimbi has asked the church to help restart peace negotiations between his movement and the government.
The bishops said Savimbi’s written request to the bishops in March ”lit a flicker of hope in the hearts of bishops and of all Angolans who want peace”.
The Angolan government has battled the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Unita) almost non-stop for 26 years.
The conflict has claimed an estimated 500 000 lives, mutilated 100 000 others, and uprooted four million out of some 12 million inhabitants. – AFP
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