Angola. (Areas of Conflict).

In early May 1995, Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos met with rebel leader Jonas Savimbi. The two declared their joint commitment to peace after 20 years of civil war. It was a commitment Mr. Savimbi had little intention of honouring. The leader of the UNITA rebels used the peace he signed as a time to refresh and re-equip his forces before sending them back into combat.

Angola's civil war started when the country was granted its independence by Portugal in 1975. The main rivals were the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). The MPLA received backing from the Soviet Union; UNITA was supported by the United States and South Africa. The MPLA controlled the capital, Luanda, while UNITA was strong in the south.

After 14 years of fighting both sides were exhausted and seemed ready to settle their differences. In 1990, UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi officially recognized Jose Eduardo dos Santos, the MPLA leader, as Angola's head of state.

This paved the way for a peace settlement in 1991 and elections in 1992. But, the peace was short lived.

Angola's voters rejected UNITA at the polls. Jonas Savimbi rejected the people's choice and returned to the battlefield. Throughout 1993 and 1994, UNITA forces controlled most of the countryside. Large numbers of civilians (an estimated 50,000) died from war-related causes, particularly starvation.

In November 1994, another ceasefire was signed by both sides. United Nations peacekeepers tried to keep the warring factions apart. In April 1997, a government of national unity was sworn in. Mr. Savimbi was included as Vice President.

But, by July 1998, President dos Santos was saying that UNITA and government forces were engaged in an undeclared war. Then, the peace agreement fell completely apart and open warfare once again scourged the country.

Since Angola's civil war re-ignited, hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled, trying to escape attacks by UNITA rebels. Many of the refugees are on the brink of starvation and thousands of others are malnourished. Aid agencies said they were coping in early 2000, but it is a constant struggle to keep all the country's refugees fed.

Late in 1999, the government scored a couple of major victories and thought it had finally defeated the rebels. The Angolan government gained control of 92% of Angola after a series of back-to-back victories. Though seriously weakened, UNITA rebels managed to continue hit and run attacks in much of the countryside. There were reports of members of the Namibian army fighting alongside the Angolan army as well as of heightened tensions in neighbouring Zambia.

In March, the UN released a report identifying political leaders and countries accused of violations of UN sanctions against UNITA. Mr. Savimbi is said to collect $150 million a year from diamond mines in the areas he controls. He uses this money to buy arms. The Angola Peace Action Network names "Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Togo, South Africa, and Belgium, among others, and political leaders (President Blaise Comparore of Burkina Faso and President Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo) as having been complicit in the trade of weapons and diamonds with UNITA."

The government successes led to new tactics by UNITA. The rebels are avoiding direct military confrontations with the government, and using hit-and-run guerrilla-style attacks. These attacks have primarily been against civilian targets, and especially against towns and transportation vehicles where the highest casualties were reported. In August 2001, more than 100 people were killed in an attack on a train. The locomotive hit a land mine and then passengers were machine-gunned as they tried to escape the wreckage of the train.

In 2001, UNITA proposed a peace plan to end the fighting. The government has rejected the offer saying that the agreement of 1994 was the only instrument for peace. Elections for both parliament and the presidency may be held in 2002 or 2003, depending on the status of the fighting.

At least 500,000 people have died in Angola's civil war since 1975, including over 300,000 since 1992.

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Websites

Angola Peace Monitor - http://www.anc.org.za/ angola/

The Angolan Mission Observer - http:// www.angola.org/news/mission/index.html