Word: swapo
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Guerrilla Leader Sam Nujoma, president of the South West African People's Organization (SWAPO), said last week in Tripoli that while his forces would keep on fighting until a cease-fire was reached, SWAPO would take part in talks currently going on in New York City. The participants include South Africa, neighboring African states and the five Western powers (the U.S., Britain, France, West Germany, Canada) delegated by the U.N. to attempt to reach a settlement. Said a top U.S. official: "All sides have shown considerable flexibility. The political will seems to be there...
Ironically, while the diplomats were covering ground, both SWAPO and South Africa were stepping up their military activities last week in order to gain an advantage before a cease-fire was declared. South African defense forces admitted that a Puma helicopter carrying twelve paratroopers and three crew members had been shot down while on a mission against SWAPO units in Angola, which is directly north of Namibia. SWAPO has long used Angola as a refuge from South Africans. Everyone aboard the helicopter was killed, making the loss the worst single incident of the war or South Africa...
...across the Namibian border into the rocky terrain of the Cambeno valley, some 15 miles away in the southwestern corner of Angola. Then, supported by helicopter gunships, they destroyed a secret, unfortified supply base manned by an estimated 250 guerrillas of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO). The toll: 201 guerrillas killed. Only three South African soldiers were lost...
...largest South African military venture into Angola since the mission last August that yielded abundant, but unsurprising, evidence of Soviet support for SWAPO. The guerrillas have been waging a bush war for 15 years to win independence for Namibia, or South West Africa, a territory still administered by South Africa in defiance of United Nations resolutions. According to the South Africans, the latest raid was a response to the gradual stockpiling of mostly Soviet arms and equipment to replace those lost in previous South African forays. Among the spoils: 90 Soviet-designed AK-47 assault rifles, several SA-7 missiles...
...African raid came at an awkward moment for the five Western "contact states"-the U.S., Britain, France, West Germany and Canada-that began talks in London last week to iron out final problems in the first phase of a settlement that would guarantee Namibian independence. The main stumbling block: SWAPO'S reluctance to go along with complex election procedures designed to protect Namibia's 90,000 whites (out of a population of 1 million...