International

The war is not over, says UNITA

LUANDA (ANGOLA) FEB. 24. The Angolan President, Jose Eduardo dos Santos left on Sunday for Portugal and the United States for a State trip during which he is expected to present plans for securing peace in Angola following the death of the UNITA rebel leader, Jonas Savimbi.

However, UNITA members warned they would continue a war against the Government which started after Angola's independence from Portugal in 1975. Carlos Morgado, a UNITA representative in Portugal, said the group was "deeply shaken" by the death of Savimbi in a gun battle with the army. The armed forces said Savimbi was killed on Friday. "From now on, the scenario has changed, we'll have to find new paths. But this will never mean a military surrender. There'll be no military victory" for the Government, he said on the Portuguese cable news channel SIC Noticias.

The war is believed to have killed about 500,000 people, though there are no confirmed figures. About four million people — roughly one-third of the population — have been driven from their homes by the fighting, creating a humanitarian crisis. Possible successors to Savimbi are the UNITA vice-president, Antonio Dembo and Savimbi's close aide, Paulo Lukamba Gato. Both are believed to be hiding out in the Angolan bush. The army says it is still pursuing rebel units.

UNITA, a Portuguese acronym for the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, is thought to have several thousand troops in a country with ideal terrain for guerilla warfare. The Portuguese Foreign Ministry urged the Angolan Government to call a ceasefire and said UNITA should join in negotiations to map out the country's political future.

The United Nations wants the foes to abide by a 1994 peace agreement it brokered. That accord, like two others before it, collapsed in 1998, prompting the U.N. Security Council to impose sanctions on the rebel group. UNITA has said the 1994 accord was flawed and has refused to enter into talks with the United Nations, accusing the world body of bias toward the government.

Mr. Dos Santos, who has not spoken in public since Savimbi's death was announced on Friday, was to meet the Portuguese Foreign Minister, Jaime Gama, late Sunday and hold talks with the President, Jorge Sampaio early Monday before travelling to Washington for a meeting with the U.S. President, George W. Bush.

Savimbi led UNITA since he founded it in 1966. During the Cold War, he was a proxy for the United States against the then-Marxist Government. — AP, AFP

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