U.N. Plans Relief Flight to Huambo

The United Nations said Saturday that it is planning an urgent relief flight into Huambo, Angola’s second-largest city, which has been left in ruins after a two-month battle.

The move is in response to an appeal by the rebel National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, or UNITA, which drove the army out of the strategic city in fighting that left thousands dead.

Also Saturday, a U.S. official in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, said UNITA had proposed that peace talks be held next month. A previous effort at peace negotiations failed when UNITA representatives did not show up.

In a separate development, UNITA troops continued fighting for control of the central city of Cuito. A Defense Ministry spokesman said the government controlled the airport and urban areas.