UNITA disappointed at Joint Commission closure

Angola's former rebel group UNITA on Monday said it was disappointed by an announcement that the Joint Commission, the body overseeing the country's peace process, would disband next week. UNITA said there were no guarantees the government would follow through with an agreement to reintegrate tens of thousands of its ex-combatants. "The Joint Commission provided us [UNITA] with a forum to discuss the country's many problems. Without it, it will be difficult to sustain this dialogue with the government. While the government has plans to reintegrate UNITA soldiers into society, these are just plans. What about the practicalities behind this," UNITA spokesman Marcial Dachala told IRIN. JC spokesman Carlos Araujo announced on Friday that the UN-brokered commission, charged with implementing outstanding issues around the re-activated 1994 Lusaka Protocol, would conclude its work on 21 November. "Most of the commission's work has been done, however, there remain a few minor details which are more administrative," Araujo told IRIN. One of the commission's main tasks was to supervise the nomination of UNITA officials for posts of provincial, district governors, ambassadors and other state duties. This was completed in October. Some 80,000 former rebel soldiers and more than 350,000 members of their families have been settled in 42 camps in the country, which the government plans to close by December. The government has announced a two-year social reintegration programme which aims to resettle the ex-combatants into civilian life.