Maybe, the fratricidal conflict in Angola will now end with the demise of
the greatest obstacle to peace in that country.
'Amen'
BMK
>From: Y C Jow <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Angola Government Says UNITA's Savimbi Killed
>Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2002 18:17:33 EST
>
>Angola Government Says UNITA's Savimbi Killed
>Fri Feb 22, 5:14 PM ET By Justin Pearce LUANDA (Reuters) - Angolan UNITA
>rebel leader Jonas Savimbi, who battled the Luanda government for decades
>in
>one of Africa's longest-running wars, was killed in a clash with government
>troops on Friday, Angolan state media reported.
>
><A HREF="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=index&cid=702">Photos</A>
>
> ><A
>HREF="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/020222/170/15cpx.html">
></A>Reuters Photo
>
>
>
>"In Moxico province, Jonas Malheiro Savimbi died in combat," Angolan
>national
>radio said. An Angolan presidential spokesman told a Portuguese radio
>station
>that government forces had Savimbi's body and planned to display it. A
>source
>close to UNITA, contacted in Lisbon, had no immediate comment on the
>report.
>Savimbi was the founding father of UNITA, which he says was born as an army
>of "12 people with knives," leading the rebel movement since 1966. Fighting
>in the former Portuguese colony in southwestern Africa has dragged on since
>1975 and claimed an estimated one million lives. Presidential spokesman
>Aldemiro de Conceicao, quoting a statement by the Angolan government and
>armed forces, said Savimbi was killed at about 3 p.m. (8 a.m. EST) in
>east-central Angola Asked in an interview with private TSF radio if Savimbi
>was dead, he said: "I confirm it. In fact, the government just released a
>statement confirming the death of Jonas Savimbi, which occurred today at 3
>p.m. in the province of Moxico. "We had a problem that just now has been
>removed," he added. The Angolan armed forces said Savimbi, 67, was killed
>"as
>a result of a clash that occurred with a column that he was a part of," de
>Conceicao said. Joao Laurenco, secretary-general of the ruling MPLA party
>told state television that Savimbi had "chosen his own destiny." An
>unofficial UNITA contact in Lisbon, Rui Oliveira, said: "We are waiting for
>our forces in the interior to get in contact with us, only after that can
>we
>talk." UNITA is an acronym for the National Union for the Total
>Independence
>of Angola. BODY TO BE DISPLAYED De Conceicao said the armed forces had
>Savimbi's body and planned to display it in the next few hours. "Certainly,
>we are going to display Savimbi's body for photographs," he said. The
>report
>of Savimbi's death comes as the United Nations (<A
>HREF="http://rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/*http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news?p=%22United%20Nations%22&c=&n=20&yn=c&c=news&cs=nw">news</A>
>- <A
>HREF="http://rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/*http://search.yahoo.com/bin/search?p=United%20Nations&cs=nw">web
>sites</A>) tries to
>revive peace talks between Luanda's government and Savimbi's forces. The
>Luanda government, which had been Marxist but has embraced market
>principles,
>has reported several defections or the capture of top UNITA officers in
>recent months. The stocky, ebullient son of a railway stationmaster,
>Savimbi
>studied medicine in Lisbon and political science in Switzerland. He left
>Europe in 1961 to fight Portuguese rule and formed UNITA. His forces and
>allies came close to controlling Angola in fighting after the end of
>Portuguese rule. However, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of
>Angola,
>backed by Cuban troops, swept through the country and won widespread
>recognition as the government of Angola. TSF reported that the streets of
>Luanda, the Angolan capital, were quiet. The Luanda police chief, Francisco
>Pestana, told Portugal's Lusa news agency that gunfire had been heard in
>the
>city, "but it is gunfire of joy." Portuguese state television RTP reported
>from Luanda that the government had appealed for calm. The government also
>said it could declare a nationwide cease-fire, RTP said.
><A
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>this story</A> - <A HREF="http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/mt/?u">View most
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>
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