Church renews calls for dialogue

The Roman Catholic church in Angola has again called on the two sides in the Angolan conflict to restart a dialogue for peace, BBC said on Monday. The bishop of the northeastern province of Uije, Francisco da Matta Mourisca, was quoted as saying that "it should not be beyond the creativity of Angolans to find new ideas to restart peace negotiations."

Speaking on the Catholic radio, Ecclesia, the bishop said Angolans had lived in a culture of violence for nearly forty years, and now there was an urgent need for peace. He said the ordinary Angolan was not interested in amassing diamonds and petrol as has been alleged of the warring sides. Hundreds of thousands of Angolans have been displaced since the war restarted last year.