SADC to underwrite a peace deal

Southern African leaders are considering a fresh initiative to resolve the Angolan conflict, backing their support for a peace agreement with the threat of military force, a senior political source in Zimbabwe told IRIN on Wednesday. At the Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit next month in Mozambique, "there is a very strong indication there will be the political will" to resolve the conflict, the official said. At the last SADC summit in Mauritius last year, regional leaders declared UNITA chief Jonas Savimbi a war criminal, "to be hunted down," the Zimbabwean official added. "What lagged behind was the political will and the military means, obviously this matter has to be reconsidered. "This is where the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) pact is very interesting as it was undersigned by neighbouring countries and represents a new vision for peacekeeping in Africa," the political source said. "When we talk of underwriting an Angolan settlement it is not just in moral terms but in physical terms." He added that Angola's cycle of peace agreements, broken by the UNITA rebel movement and plunging the country back into war, had to be stopped. SADC would aim for a fresh political accord guaranteed by regional governments. "A military deployment now by Zimbabwe is out of the question. But there has to be that general consensus within SADC on a military commitment shared by all countries which would lighten the burden," he said. UNITA has consistently called for fresh negotiations with the Angolan government, which Luanda has rejected. Angolan Foreign Minister Joao Miranda said on Monday: "Mr Savimbi has never accepted the implementation of any accord. I do not know whether he will accept it today at a time when he is committed to seizing power by force of arms. "In any event," Miranda added, "we have no intention of resuming talks with Mr Savimbi under these conditions."