Church appeals for peace amid increasing insecurity

About 15 church and civic bodies meeting in Luanda emphasised on Tuesday that ending Angola’s civil war required not only the laying down of arms, but an assurance of social justice as well, Lusa reported. The three-day meeting, sponsored by the Inter-Ecclesial Committee for Peace in Angola (COIEPA) - which comprises of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Angola and Sao Tome, the Angolan Evangelical Alliance and the Council of Angolan Christian Churches - was aimed at setting up a “network for peace”, the report said.

Participants pledged to commit themselves to seeking a “longlasting peace, via true social reconciliation” and said “it is up to the people of Angola to define their path to peace”, according to the report. They also welcomed as positive the efforts by the international community to include Angolan civil society in the peace process, but warned that “the international community should place no obstacles, under any pretext or form, to dialogue among Angolans to achieve definitive peace”, the report said.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Angola said on 25 July that aid agencies were concerned about the condition of about 40,000 people displaced by ongoing war in the Buengas district of Uige province. Relief agencies have no access to the displaced population because of military instability in the area.

World Food Programme (WFP) spokesperson Christina Muller told IRIN on Wednesday the lack of access to people in need was a serious concern for the food agency. “We have not been able to guarantee safety for our staff to go to certain areas where we realise there is a need for humanitarian aid. Military instability is dramatic in most of the country. There is news on a daily basis of villages which are attacked. These emergencies tend to be on the rise,” she said.

Muller predicted a “major crisis” in Angola unless the war receded. She told IRIN that with the rainy reason approaching and more IDPs arriving in towns, humanitarian agencies would battle to provide for them unless displaced people could be resettled in safe areas. “As the rainy period begins, which is also the lean period, people are unable to grow their food. they move to where they think there is food, but there is very little. We are scared they will eat the seeds we are distributing,” she said.

In other developments in the war-wracked southern African country, Angop reported on Monday that Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) killed 46 UNITA soldiers during “clean-up” operations in Malanje between 21 and 28 July. Skirmishes between government and rebel troops in many other provinces were reported during this period as well.

Notwithstanding the increased levels of military activity in the country, AP reported on Wednesday that a presidential advisory council had set out conditions for Angola to hold presidential and legislative elections in 2002. Officials from the Council of the Angolan Republic were quoted saying that the country’s second elections should be held after a new constitution had been adopted. They added that violence also had to be stabilised to allow for the free movement of goods and people. The Council, headed by Angolan President Jose Eduardo Dos santos, is made up of 12 opposition parties in parliament and representatives from civic and religious groups, according to the report.