Further attacks could delay reconciliation, UNITA

Angola's former rebel group UNITA on Friday said investigations were under way following an attack this week on two of its regional offices in central Huambo province. UNITA secretary for foreign affairs Alcides Sakala told IRIN that five of their officials were attacked on Tuesday by armed youths wearing T-shirts with the ruling MPLA party slogan. He added that the party's offices in the towns of Bela Vista and Villa Nova had been looted. "We have alerted the relevant authorities about this attack and have been assured that this kind of behaviour will not be tolerated. Attacks such as these are not good for building reconciliation between UNITA and the MPLA," he said. The two warring parties signed a truce in April last year and the government authorised the former rebel group to engage in political activities under the terms of the 1994 Lusaka peace agreement. Sakala alleged that UNITA party officials had faced harassment and intimidation in certain parts of the country, noting that in February they were prevented from establishing offices in Huambo. "It is important for the government to set up a special commission which would investigate who exactly is behind these attacks. If they [the attacks] continue, we may see the diminishing of the trust between ourselves and the government," Sakala said. UNITA backed calls this week for general elections to be held in the second half of 2004, with Sakala saying early elections would facilitate multiparty democracy. The MPLA has dominated the political scene since independence in 1975. Meanwhile, concerns remain over the living conditions of ex-UNITA soldiers in transit camps across the country. Former UNITA combatants and their families were moved from the quartering areas to transit centres, from where they were expected to be transported to their areas of origin or resettlement. Sakala said: "The reinsertion of our soldiers [into civil society] is a priority for us, but it seems that the government is not committed to a coordinated policy to address the needs of the many who still live under terrible conditions in the transit centres. In some cases there are people without food and medical aid. We are afraid that the longer these people stay in camps, the more frustrated they may become." The government has said logistical problems had created bottlenecks at the transit centres.