Luanda | Tuesday
ANGOLA’S army on Monday confirmed it was searching for the body of rebel General Antonio Dembo, seen as a possible successor to slain Unita leader Jonas Savimbi, who may have been killed in eastern Angola.
In a statement, army headquarters said a rebel captured in central-eastern Moxico province, where Savimbi was killed in clashes with troops on February 22, claimed to have witnessed Dembo’s burial shortly after Savimbi’s death.
The army said it was searching the area identified by the captive as the site of Dembo’s grave, but admitted it did not have any corroborating evidence to support reports of Dembo’s death. Earlier on Monday, Catholic radio Ecclesia reported that Dembo, vice president of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Unita), might have died of wounds sustained in the same battle that claimed Savimbi’s life.
But a Unita representative in France, Georges Sanguende, said his group ”has no confirmation of General Dembo’s death”.
He speculated that the radio’s information may have come from a rumour started by the Angolan government to demoralise Unita rebels before an attack.
Savimbi led his rebels in a brutal 27-year civil war after Angola achieved independence from Portugal in 1975.
Unita rebels have continued attacks since Savimbi’s death, despite fresh calls from the Luanda government for the rebels to lay down their arms. – Sapa-AFP