Word: savimbi
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...Western-backed opposition forces, the National Union for the Total Liberation of Angola (UNITA) and the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (F.N.L.A.). They would have "no problem" under his government, he insisted. But he offered virtually no hope for a conciliatory settlement with UNITA Leader Jonas Savimbi or the F.N.L.A.'s Holden Roberto. Said Neto: "We regret being forced by the treason perpetrated by [these] leaders to take steps in order to prevent new cases of slaughter, murder and unreasonable destruction of human life...
Defeat Conceded. Neither Savimbi nor Roberto had any response to Neto's victory claims. But UNITA Foreign Affairs Secretary Jorge Sangumba, in a statement from the Zambian capital of Lusaka, acknowledged that UNITA had been defeated on the field of battle. He vowed to fight on, however, and said that UNITA was already organizing guerrilla-warfare cells throughout southern Angola. But barring a direct confrontation of the M.P.L.A. and its battle-hardened Cubans with some 5,000 South African regulars dug in around the Cunene River hydroelectric complex just inside Angola, large-scale fighting appeared to be over...
...rout began early last week when M.P.L.A. units overran Huambo (pop. 65,000), Angola's second largest city and the provisional capital of the F.N.L.A.-UNITA government. Despite UNITA claims that it had mounted a tough fight, Savimbi's forces had actually evacuated the city several hours before the M.P.L.A. entered it, possibly to avoid civilian casualties in an armed confrontation. A day later, Luanda radio announced the "glorious capture" of the key Atlantic ports of Lobito and Benguela, which with the capture of the east central Angolan town of Luso late in the week gave the M.P.L.A...
White Angolans. "But Red Cross officers fear that so massive a retreat to the bush could lead to a new Biafra, with thousands of deaths by starvation. That could be avoided by a political settlement, for which Savimbi is eager. He admitted that he would even accept Agostinho Neto as President of a coalition government, although only if the M.P.L.A. leader gave UNITA an important role. Neto, said Savimbi, is not a true African: if he were, he would understand that the leadership of an African nation requires compromise. 'You never have everybody with you,' he added...
...territory the M.P.L.A. is now entering is the traditional heartland of the Ovimbundu tribe. Tribal loyalties in Angola are strong, and the M.P.L.A. would have trouble administering the area without Savimbi's help. Even worse, the M.P.L.A. would have to deal with guerrilla activity, a debilitating prospect that would prevent reconstruction of the war-ravaged economy...