Angolan Rebel Sees U.S. Aide, Zaire Leader
Zairean President Mobutu Sese Seko met Sunday with Angolan rebel leader Jonas Savimbi and a senior U.S. envoy in southern France in his most serious bid yet to revive a peace accord to end Angola’s 14-year civil war.
Mobutu talked with Savimbi and Herman Cohen, assistant secretary of state for African affairs. Cohen played a key role in talks in Washington earlier this month when President Bush persuaded Savimbi to return to the conference table.
A Zairean spokesman described Sunday’s meeting as “very delicate.”
He was referring to the crucial issue of what peace formula Savimbi would accept as a condition for agreeing to a cease-fire in the war between the Luanda government and UNITA (the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola).
In June, Savimbi attended a summit in Gbadolite, Zaire, at which he met for the first time with Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos. However, Savimbi denies that he agreed to go into exile and merge his guerrilla force into the Angolan army, as announced after the summit.
UNITA, which is backed by South Africa and the United States, stepped up fighting after the cease-fire announcement.
Diplomatic sources said the United States leaned hard on Savimbi to soften his stand on the question of exile. If Mobutu is able to put together an agreement, African leaders will meet in Libreville, Gabon, this month for the formal signing of a cease-fire accord, the Zairean spokesman said.
South African Foreign Minister Roelof F. (Pik) Botha is scheduled to be briefed on the talks in a separate meeting with Mobutu, officials said.
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