Word: unita
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...from ending up in the hands of the rebels. This fall the company has reaffirmed its commitment to trying to stop the trade and even added a bit of a spin: a sense that the boycott was aimed directly at the National Union for the Total Liberation of Angola (UNITA), the rebel group led by Jonas Savimbi that has been a target of largely ineffectual U.N. sanctions since 1993. Explains De Beers spokesman Andrew Lamont: "The only goal is to do as much as we can to help the U.N. to limit the ability of UNITA to carry...
...easy to stop the trade. UNITA has already amassed a fortune from illicit diamond sales, enough to continue its hostilities virtually indefinitely. Diamond analysts calculate that UNITA made more than $2.5 billion from diamond sales between 1992 and 1997, and last year collected at least $225 million. U.N. researchers and human-rights lobbying groups put the figure far higher. By any estimation, Savimbi's 40,000-strong UNITA must be the richest rebel movement in the world...
Laurent Kabila has returned to his capital now that Angolan and Zimbabwean forces have slowed the advance of rebel forces. Kabila may find, however, that the Angolans will eventually switch sides. "Angola's only motivation is to protect its border from incursions by UNITA rebels," says TIME reporter Clive Mutiso. "That's why they helped bring Kabila to power, and why they intervened when the rebels arrived, unannounced, in their backyard. But there's no reason why Angola can't reach an agreement with the rebels and their backers, Rwanda and Uganda...
...TIME correspondent Marguerite Michaels. "When the Rwandan-backed rebels suddenly flew over and started capturing territory the southwest of the country -- Angola's back yard -- Angola immediately challenged Rwanda and began sending Kabila logistical support, which has helped him slow the rebel advance." With Kabila having failed to stop UNITA rebels attacking Angola from his territory, the Angolans can't be too happy with his performance -- they're more likely to be backing him in order to thwart a Rwandan plan to break up the Congo and take control of its eastern provinces. Either way, the fate of the Congo...
Applebome was joined by Unita Blackwell, former mayor of Mayersville, Miss. and a former IOP fellow; Gaston Caperton, former governor of West Virginia; Robin Hayes, recent Republican candidate for governor of North Carolin and Curtis Wilke, southern correspondent for the Boston Globe...