Angolan Army, Rebels Fight
By Casimiro Siona
Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, December 23, 1998; 6:32 p.m. EST
LUANDA, Angola (AP) -- Government forces and UNITA rebels fought
in Angola's central highlands Wednesday, and aid workers said the army
had taken control of two rebel-held towns.
In Huambo province, 310 miles southeast of the capital Luanda, battles
were raging ''all over the place,'' according to one aid worker who spoke
on condition of anonymity.
''The government has retaken Vila Nova and has a firm grasp of Caala,''
the aid worker said, referring to two towns 25 miles from the city of
Huambo.
The resumption of fighting this month has sent more than 50,000 people
into Huambo. Stores in the city were empty because the harvest had been
destroyed by the fighting and the roads leading into the city were
unpassable, the aid worker said. The airport was under military control
but closed to commercial flights.
The World Food Program is planning to fly about 300 tons of food into
Huambo over the next two weeks.
Another aid worker, speaking from Huambo on condition of anonymity,
said Namibian troops flew into the city two days ago. The government
had denied rebel claims that Zimbabwe and Namibia have sent troops to
support President Jose Eduardo dos Santos.
Meanwhile, UNITA rebels continued their two-week-long siege of the
city of Kuito, capital of neighboring Bie province, 80 miles east of
Huambo. The Red Cross said 160 people were wounded, some in
serious condition.
The United Nations brokered a 1994 peace agreement between the
government and UNITA, but festering friction led to renewed clashes in
the diamond and oil-rich country.
Angola on Wednesday condemned the U.N. for its ''passivity and
complicity'' in face of UNITA's ''constant violations'' of the 1994 accord.
The government said instead of disbanding its rebel forces, UNITA -- the
National Union for the Total Independence of Angola -- has built up a
40,000-strong army equipped with ''armored vehicles, long-range artillery
and great firepower.''
The U.N. envoy to Angola, Issa Diallo, said he understood the
government's disappointment but that negotiation was still the key to
peace.
''We must think the solution to Angola's problem is compromise, peace
and dialogue,'' he told state radio Wednesday.
Civil war between the government and UNITA broke out in 1975
following the southwest African nation's independence from Portugal.
A 1991 peace deal collapsed the following year when UNITA leader
Jonas Savimbi rejected his defeat in Angola's first elections and returned
to war.
© Copyright 1998 The Associated Press
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