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The Catholic church in Angola has acknowledged the authenticity of a letter written by rebel leader Jonas Savimbi outlining UNITA’s conditions for a ceasefire, according to the Portuguese newspaper ‘Diario de Noticias’. In a note released in Luanda, Angola’s bishops said UNITA representative in Rome, Adalberto da Costa Junior, had verified the letter’s legitimacy, the newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Savimbi said UNITA would be willing to abide by a ceasefire as long as the offer came directly from Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos.
Meanwhile, few fresh details have emerged of a UNITA attack early on Monday on the town of Golungo Alto in the northern province of Cuanza Norte. An undetermined number of NGO workers remain unaccounted for. Humanitarian sources told IRIN on Tuesday that the resident population of the town was approximately 15,000, swollen by some 12,000 displaced that had been arriving from the northern municipalities, such as Bolongongo, Ambaça, Banga and Kiculungo since 1998.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions