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UN: Angola, UNITA rebels nearer to resuming talks
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Friday he saw signs the Angola government and UNITA rebels may be ready to resume long-stalled peace talks, although both sides were hesitating.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Friday he saw signs the Angola government and UNITA rebels may be ready to resume long-stalled peace talks, although both sides were hesitating.
"We are getting signals that they may be ready to resume their discussions and implementation of the Lusaka accords, but it is not firm," Annan said, referring to a peace plan reached in the Zambian capital of Lusaka in 1994 but never put into effect. Speaking to reporters after winning the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize, which he shared with the United Nations, Annan said he would send his personal envoy, Ibrahim Gambari of Nigeria, to the region "to see how much more energy we can put into this."
The government of the southwest African nation and UNITA, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, have been fighting intermittently since the country gained independence from Portugal in 1975.
A million people are believed to have died in the conflict.
Until now the two parties have refused to engage, and I have made it clear that it is difficult to make peace without talking to the enemy," Annan said.
In his latest report to the Security Council on the long-troubled southwest African nation, made public on Friday, Annan said fighting was continuing unabated, "with dire humanitarian consequences," despite increasing domestic pressure for a political settlement.
"Deep animosity and distrust, fueled by hate propaganda, have persisted" between the two sides, and intensified guerrilla attacks on civilian targets in recent weeks had "plunged the country into another political and military stalemate."
"The United Nations and the international community should continue to exert their influence and assist the parties in finding lasting peace," his report said, recommending a six-month extension, until next April 15, of the U.N. peace-building office in Angola. Bureau Report
"We are getting signals that they may be ready to resume their discussions and implementation of the Lusaka accords, but it is not firm," Annan said, referring to a peace plan reached in the Zambian capital of Lusaka in 1994 but never put into effect. Speaking to reporters after winning the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize, which he shared with the United Nations, Annan said he would send his personal envoy, Ibrahim Gambari of Nigeria, to the region "to see how much more energy we can put into this."
The government of the southwest African nation and UNITA, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, have been fighting intermittently since the country gained independence from Portugal in 1975.
A million people are believed to have died in the conflict.
Until now the two parties have refused to engage, and I have made it clear that it is difficult to make peace without talking to the enemy," Annan said.
In his latest report to the Security Council on the long-troubled southwest African nation, made public on Friday, Annan said fighting was continuing unabated, "with dire humanitarian consequences," despite increasing domestic pressure for a political settlement.
"Deep animosity and distrust, fueled by hate propaganda, have persisted" between the two sides, and intensified guerrilla attacks on civilian targets in recent weeks had "plunged the country into another political and military stalemate."
"The United Nations and the international community should continue to exert their influence and assist the parties in finding lasting peace," his report said, recommending a six-month extension, until next April 15, of the U.N. peace-building office in Angola. Bureau Report