Separatists arrested in Zambia

Authorities in Zambia on Friday announced the arrest of suspected Namibian separatists in the southwest Zambian town of Sesheke bordering the Caprivi Strip. According to newspaper acocunts in South Africa, Namibia and Zambia police in Sesheke confirmed the arrests, but could give no further details as to how many were detained, except that they were expected to appear in court soon. The arrests follow Monday's first anti-government attack in Namibia since the country's independence from South Africa in 1990. The armed rebels raided Katima Mulilo, capital of the Caprivi Strip. The town lies about 10 km across the border from Sesheke. The Lusaka daily, 'The Post', reported speculation that the detained group was part of the attack on Katima Mulilo in the early hours of Monday morning. According to the South African daily, 'Business Day', Namibian officials went to Sesheke to check Zambian police reports that more than half of those arrested were Angolan nationals. The exiled leader of the separatist movement, Mishake Muyongo, has denied that the Angolan UNITA rebel leader, Jonas Savimbi, or the Barotse Patriotic Front (BDF), a secessionist group in Western Zambia, was aiding his movement. In recent days BDF leader Imasiku Mutangelwa pledged the support of his party for the Caprivi secessionists. Meanwhile, a media statement by the Namibian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting condemned "the cowardly and bandit attacks which were aimed at destabilising the country, in particular the Caprivi region." The statement added: "The government would strongly like to warn such elements to desist and refrain from such cowardly acts, and clearly tell them that the law enforcement organs of the state shall deal with them as they are inciting rebellious activities which are nothing else but high treason."