Angola Fighting Imperils Peace Accord; U.N. Demands a Halt

Widespread fighting reportedly broke out Friday between government forces and former UNITA rebels, claiming a dozen lives and threatening Angola’s peace accord.

In New York, the U.N. Security Council demanded an end to the hostilities and warned that any government imposed by force would not be recognized. Western diplomats said economic sanctions would be imposed if the UNITA rebels imposed a government.

The reports from news media and witnesses heightened fears of a return to civil war between the ruling MPLA party and the former rebels, who appeared to have ended their 16-year battle in peace accords last year.

The heaviest fighting was reported in the central city of Huambo, where civilian and military casualties were reported. The fighting there ended Friday evening and both sides opened talks, mediated by U.N. monitors, Gen. Higino Carneiro told reporters in Luanda.

Government and UNITA officials also met in Luanda, the capital, for talks aimed at reaching a political solution to the crisis in the southwestern African nation.

Tension has been mounting since UNITA chief Jonas Savimbi complained of fraud in Angola’s first multi-party elections, which gave the formerly Marxist MPLA--Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola--a parliamentary majority.