Several killed in ambushes

At least eight people were killed and several others injured in rebel ambushes and attacks at the weekend, news organisations reported on Tuesday. The reports said UNITA rebels had left four people dead in an attack on a town called Dundo in the eastern Lunda Sul Province some 1,000 km east of the capital Luanda. Local radio correspondents quoted by AFP said hundreds had fled, but gave no further details. In an ambush on a vehicle convoy along a road near the town in a separate incident on also Sunday, two people were killed. Independent 'Radio Ecclesia' reported that four other lorries were burned in the attack. In the southern Huila Province, two people were killed and four wounded when rebels reportedly attacked a village near Quipungo. The reports, which were not independently verified, gave no further details. IMF and Luanda officials meet Angolan officials and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have begun several days of meetings in Luanda, media reports said on Tuesday. According to the reports the meetings are to focus on the issue of exchange rates and transparency within the Angolan oil industry. Reports said that the meetings were also intended to provide some kind of basis for a possible structural adjustment programme. Angola's external debt is expected to reach an estimtated US $13 billion, more than double its gross domestic product.