New accord with Zambia

Zambia and Angola have signed an agreement “to forget all past disputes” and put behind them a growing deterioration in relations over Angolan charges of Zambian assistance to the UNITA rebel movement. A senior Zambian government official told IRIN on Thursday the agreement was signed in Mbabane, Swaziland, on Tuesday night after more than 12 hours of talks behind closed doors. “This is a major breakthrough and we hope it will now bring an end to months of accusations and acrimony,” the official said. He paid tribute to Swaziland’s King Mswati III for facilitating the talks between intelligence and security officials from both countries. He also said South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe had attended the talks under the aegis of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Zambia has consistently denied any knowledge of weapons passing through its territory to UNITA rebels, and under the agreement, the two neighbours pledged to stop hostile propaganda or media reports about each other. They also agreed to protect each other’s nationals from harassment arising out of the dispute and said new mechanisms would be introduced to prevent similar differences flaring up in the future. The agreement is to be ratified shortly at a ministerial meeting in Swaziland. “We now have to ensure that this agreement holds firm,” the official said.