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Jonas Savimbi, leader of the Angolan rebel movement, UNITA, has been personally accused of ordering the shooting down of two UN aircraft in central Angola just over a year ago, according to videotaped evidence presented to the UN Security Council this week.
The evidence was presented by Canadian Ambassador Robert Fowler, who chairs the UN Sanctions Committee on Angola. In the presentation, a UNITA defector said Savimbi had ordered that the planes be shot down, and then buried. Another defector said rebels had standing orders to shoot down any aircraft flying over their territory, and to destroy all traces of human remains. The aircraft were hit with surface-to-air missiles on 26 December 1998 and 2 January 1999. No survivors were found.
Fowler said the interviews had been conducted privately without the presence of Angolan government officials.
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