Powell calls for real reconciliation

US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Thursday said that Angola had made a promising start to peace, but urged "deep reconciliation" between the government and former UNITA rebels for peace to hold. "I would like to commend the government of Angola and UNITA for demonstrating true commitment to peace in the last six months. You have made a promising start. And now, for peace to hold, reconciliation to be achieved and for hope to return, both the government and UNITA must reach out to all concerned Angolans in search of deep reconciliation," Powell told a special session of Angola's Joint Commission, comprising government and UNITA officials overseeing the peace process. Powell, visiting Angola briefly before travelling on to Gabon the same day, told the former adversaries that "this Joint Commission is not just about ending the war. It is also an opportunity to heal wounds, prepare the future and shape a new political dynamic for Angola". "If it is to succeed, the Joint Commission cannot become merely a mechanical exercise without meaning to anyone other than the participants," he said. "Reconciliation will not be easy, but it must begin now. The people of Angola have suffered enough." Earlier, Powell held talks with President Jose Eduardo dos Santos. According to the Angolan media, issues discussed included the peace process, the humanitarian situation, election timetables, the strengthening of democracy and the political situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Great Lakes region. But while the peace process is debated, displaced Angolans and returning refugees are on the move back to their homes ahead of the approaching rains, complicating the humanitarian effort in a country where the transport infrastructure remains weak. The World Food Programme (WFP), in its latest report on Thursday, said that 33,000 people had returned to their areas of origin in the central province of Bie in the last few weeks. "It's like that all over the country, which is making the whole operation here confusing," WFP's spokesman, Marcelo Spina-Hering, told IRIN. In the southeastern town of Mavinga, WFP was flying in 84 mt of food daily to feed 65,000 beneficiaries, including displaced people who had arrived from the nearby "reception sites" for ex-UNITA soldiers and their families. The accelerated airlift, expanded to four flights a day, was to make up for a two-week break in deliveries after a landmine was found on the Mavinga runway, and to pre-position stocks before the onset of the rains, Spina-Hering said.