UNITA Severs Ties With Portugal
The UNITA rebels announced Saturday that they are ending relations with the Portuguese government because the former colonial power blamed the group for the renewed war in this African nation.
Portugal’s foreign minister, Jaime Gama, has blamed UNITA for the return last month to civil war after four years of fragile peace under a U.N.-brokered peace deal. The rebels and the government of Jose Eduardo dos Santos have been fighting since Portugal granted Angola its independence in 1975.
Defense analysts say UNITA, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, has used revenue from illicit diamond exports to finance its struggle.
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