Word: savimbi
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...these reconciliations remained elusive right to the end, if indeed there is a peaceful end. Piqued at losing the vote to the governing Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), erstwhile rebel Jonas Savimbi, leader of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), claimed that the MPLA rigged the result and only reluctantly withdrew his threat to take his troops out of the newly unified Angolan army, a move that would have put the country back on the brink of civil war. In Mozambique the immediate problem is to get the message of peace...
...removed its remaining troops, five weeks ahead of a June 30 deadline for a complete withdrawal. The evacuation of nearly 2,000 Cuban soldiers added a grace note to this week's scheduled signing in Lisbon of a peace treaty between Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos and Jonas Savimbi, leader of the U.S.-backed rebel group UNITA. The pact paves the way for the establishment of a multiparty democracy in the formerly Marxist state and elections...
...Secretary of State James Baker and Soviet Foreign Minister Alexander Bessmertnykh are expected to be on hand to congratulate Dos Santos and Savimbi -- as well they might. Since Angola won independence from Portugal in 1975, $ Moscow has spent as much as $1 billion a year to prop up the regime, while the U.S. has contributed up to $60 million annually to the rebels...
With the departure of Cuban and South African forces under way, Dos Santos offered amnesty and "reintegration" to UNITA's 75,000 guerrilla fighters -- with the notable exception of their commander. Savimbi pledged to keep fighting until Dos Santos accepted his demands for a multiparty state and free elections in which UNITA could take part...
...details were known about last week's discussions, the two sides agreed to the establishment of a mediation commission under Mobutu's chairmanship to deal with "technical" issues and to meet again in Zimbabwe in August. Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda, who sat in on the talks, said afterward that Savimbi would leave Angola for voluntary exile. Other participants doubted that, however, assuming that Savimbi would want to stay on the scene to keep UNITA alive as a political movement. The biggest obstacle to a final agreement may arise if Dos Santos remains determined to preserve Angola's Marxist one-party...