Angolan Rebels to Postpone Peace Talks With Government

The Angolan rebel movement UNITA said Saturday that it is postponing peace talks with the government and will continue fighting until the government is prepared to make concessions.

UNITA, or National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, said in a statement faxed to Reuters news agency in Lisbon that it will not take part in a second round of peace talks due to start in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, on Wednesday.

It said it cannot attend because its delegation to a first round in Addis Ababa on Jan. 27 to 30 has not yet returned to its headquarters in the central Angolan city Huambo.

“The UNITA delegation to the Addis Ababa negotiations has not arrived in Huambo to give its report to colleagues in the interior. In consequence it is not possible to organize another round of negotiations on Feb. 10,” the UNITA statement said.

The statement said a senior UNITA official, Jaka Jamba, will maintain contact with the U.N. Special Representative for Angola, Margaret Anstee, to agree on dates for a meeting.

UNITA also announced that it will release today foreigners captured when it overran the northwestern oil town of Soyo in mid-January. UNITA made clear in the statement, issued in the name of its leader, Jonas Savimbi, that it will continue fighting until the government offers it more favorable terms for peace.

UNITA signed a peace agreement with the ruling MPLA, or Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola, in 1991, ending 16 years of civil war.

But tension reappeared after UNITA rejected its defeat by the MPLA in last year’s U.N.-supervised elections and Angola lapsed back into full-scale civil war at the end of December.