Angola: phased withdrawal resumes.

The Security Council on 11 December extended the mandate of the United Nations Angola Verification Mission (UNAVEM III) until 28 February 1997, and approved the Secretary-General's recommendation to resume withdrawal, also in February, of the Mission's formed military units.

According to resolution 1087 (1996), adopted unanimously, the pace of UNAVEM III's withdrawal would be commensurate with progress achieved in the quartering areas, demobilization and the extension of State administration throughout Angola.

The Secretary-General was asked to report back no later than 10 February on a plan for a limited follow-on United Nations presence that would include military and police observers, a political component, human rights monitors and a Special Representative.

Shortly before the Council met, it received a letter (S/1996/1002) from the Angolan Government stating that President Jose Eduardo dos Santos had issued instructions for the incorporation of nine generals of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) into the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA). Also on 11 December, UNITA formally declared that all its soldiers had been quartered and that it had handed over all its armaments to UNAVEM III.

Outstanding issues that remain include: integrating the selected UNITA military personnel into the FAA; demobilizing those remaining in the quartering areas; and agreement by the two sides before 31 December 1996 on the special status of UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi as president of the largest opposition party.

Implementation of timetable behind schedule

"This unsatisfactory state of affairs cannot continue", stressed Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali in a 2 December report (S/1996/1000) on UNAVEM III - the largest current United Nations peace-keeping operation.

Most of the UNITA fighters were still in the quartering areas, which placed an additional financial burden on the international community. The Government had not yet initiated the actual incorporation of these troops into the FAA.

The Secretary-General also recommended that a rapid reaction force be retained, to provide "a basic safety net to allow other United Nations components to function effectively and to help maintain the much-needed confidence between the Angolan parties", once the formed units would have left the country.

In order to consolidate the gains made so far in the peace process, "a continued but substantially scaled-down presence" of the United Nations in Angola would be required after February 1997, he said.

'Dangerously slow pace'

The international community has become increasingly disappointed at the "dangerously slow pace" of the Lusaka Protocol's implementation, the Secretary-General said in a 19 November interim report (S/1996/960).

Some progress had been made on a 31 October 1996 agreement on a consolidated timetable for the completion of "pressing tasks", but implementation of the timetable had been behind schedule, Mr. Boutros-Ghali reported. "Yet again, the commitments which had been solemnly entered into only a few weeks previously have not been fully implemented, especially by UNITA. Again the expectations of the international community have been disappointed."

He said it was imperative that UNITA cooperate fully in resolving outstanding issues related to quartering of all its troops, handing over of its military equipment, and the formation of unified armed forces. The Angolan Government was expected to complete all logistical preparations for the incorporation of UNITA troops and police personnel into the FAA and the national police force.

Setting 20 November as the deadline for UNITA to make "substantial and genuine progress" in fulfilling its tasks in the Mediation Document and its commitments under the Lusaka Protocol, the Security Council said it would consider the imposition of measures under the United Nations Charter if UNITA failed to carry out by that deadline a number of important tasks.

On 11 October, the Security Council had extended UNAVEM III until 11 December 1996. Under resolution 1075 (1996), adopted unanimously, it expressed "deep concern" at the lack of significant progress in the peace process and urged President dos Santos and Mr. Savimbi to meet at the earliest opportunity to resolve all outstanding issues.

In a 4 October progress report (S/1996/827), the Secretary-General had said that "the continuing delays and unfulfilled promises, particularly on the part of UNITA, in implementing the successive timetables for the completion of key military and political issues are no longer acceptable", nearly two years after the Protocol's signing.