Civil opposition criticises intervention in Congos

Angolan opposition MPs criticised their country's military intervention in the neighbouring Congo Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Tuesday, LUSA has reported. According to the news agency, opposition MPs, gathered for a parliamentary plenary session in Luanda, urged the immediate withdrawal of Angolan troops from the DRC.

Bench leader of UNITA-Renewed (a breakaway faction of the UNITA rebel movement), Constantino Zeferino, stressed that any armed intervention in a neighbouring country should be authorised by the national parliament. The legislature was "surprised" by the government's confirmation that Angolan troops were in the DRC, Zeferino was quoted as saying, adding that "we think we should discuss the matter, to know how many men died, what damages the country has incurred, and what this intervention's gains and losses have been".

Regarding Angola's own civil war, Zeferino also reiterated the position that dialogue with the UNITA rebels led by Jonas Savimbi was the only way to achieve peace. An MP for the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), Benjamim da Silva, was quoted as saying that the opposition hoped to alert public opinion to the "major mistake" of military intervention in the Congos.

"We want to alert public opinion, because we are not gendarmes for any government in the region. And besides, things get very complicated, as our country's intervention can lead to misunderstanding among peoples", he added. Other MPs who criticised intervention in the Congos included members of the Liberal Democratic Party (PLD) and the Workers and Farmers Youth Alliance Party (Pajoca). The Angolan armed forces intervened in the DR Congo to back rebel leader Laurent Kabila in his drive to depose the then president, Mobutu Sese Seko, in May 1997, the report said.

They had since August 1998 supported, along with Namibia and Zimbabwe, the regimes of the late Laurent Kabila and his son Joseph Kabila against a military rebellion backed in turn by Rwanda and Uganda. The report said some sources had estimated that several thousand Angolan troops were in the DRC, although the Luanda government indicated that it maintained only a 300-strong contingent.