Angola's Rival Factions Back at War
By Casimiro Siona
Associated Press Writer
Monday, December 21, 1998; 4:14 a.m. EST
LUANDA, Angola (AP) -- When the government lost patience with the
delayed Angolan peace process two weeks ago, it sent the army to storm
the UNITA rebel group's strongholds -- and made a costly mistake.
Army generals boasted that the air and ground offensive would crush the
rebels within 48 hours. Instead, the army was caught in a lethal crossfire
and retreated with heavy losses.
Equally damaging, the attack has enabled UNITA to portray itself as a
victim of a war-hungry government, despite its refusal to comply with the
country's 1994 peace agreement.
The result could be another protracted war in a country that has enjoyed
only brief periods of peace since it began fighting Portuguese colonial rule
in 1961.
The mineral-rich country in southwestern Africa gained independence in
1975. But it quickly plunged into a two-decade civil war between UNITA
-- backed by the United States and South Africa -- and the Soviet- and
Cuban-backed government.
A peace deal in 1991 collapsed the following year when UNITA leader
Jonas Savimbi refused to accept his defeat in the country's first elections
and returned to war.
The United Nations brokered a new peace accord four years ago. But
that fragile deal also lies in tatters.
''They can't destroy us,'' UNITA Secretary-General Paulo Lukamba
Gato said by satellite telephone. ''They have to deal with us because
UNITA is not going away.''
Analysts say the army was startled by UNITA's superior firepower when
it moved on Andulo and Bailundo, rural towns about 180 miles southeast
of the capital, Luanda.
UNITA claimed it had disarmed and demobilized its forces, under U.N.
supervision, over the past four years. That proved to be a lie.
''Over the past year UNITA has prepared very well'' for a return to civil
war, said Alex Vines, the London-based Angolan desk officer for Human
Rights Watch.
When the army attacked, it came up against modern tanks, assault
vehicles, missile batteries, and sophisticated long-range artillery.
UNITA is estimated to have about 30,000 guerilla soldiers hidden in the
vast bushland, compared with the government's 100,000-strong army.
Despite its smaller size, UNITA, a Portuguese acronym for the National
Union for the Total Independence of Angola, possesses guerrilla expertise
honed during 30 years of hit-and-run war from the bush.
The rebels have used their control over more than half the country's
diamond trade to amass wealth estimated by the human rights group
Global Witness at $3.7 billion.
The peace process had been ailing for most of this year as the two sides,
driven by personal hatred and rival claims over Angola's oil and diamond
wealth, engaged in skirmishes in remote areas.
Those clashes have escalated into full-scale warfare, though the fighting
has so far remained focused on UNITA's central highland power base.
UNITA has kept the army busy in other areas of the country to prevent it
from sending reinforcements to the highlands. The army has been further
weakened by helping the governments of neighboring Congo and the
Republic of Congo, which are fighting their own insurgencies. Still, the
rebels are unlikely to win a war.
Meanwhile, the United Nations -- which spent $1.3 billion trying to
implement the peace deal -- is caught between the two.
UNITA blames the United Nations for failing to restrain the government
hawks, while army chief Gen. Joao de Matos claims UNITA built up its
military force ''under the passive gaze of the United Nations.''
© Copyright 1998 The Associated Press
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