UNITA unity talks to begin this week

UNITA's various factions will meet in Luanda this week to negotiate the unification of the party under a new leadership.

As dignitaries prepared for Thursday's signing of a ceasefire deal that is hoped will pave the way for an end to the 27-year civil war, the various UNITA factions took tentative steps at making peace among themselves.

The Luanda-based UNITA-Renovada is expected to meet the remaining leadership of the late Jonas Savimbi's guerrilla UNITA, said Renovada leader Eugenio Manuvakola.

UNITA-Renovada split from Savimbi when he chose not to sign the Lusaka Peace Accord in 1998. Savimbi and his supporters returned to the bush to wage a guerrilla war that has devastated the country. Savimbi was killed on 22 February during a battle with government troops.

Manuvakola told IRIN on Tuesday he was confident it would be possible to "build a new leadership for the party".

Manuvakola said: "The remaining leadership of Dr Savimbi's group have just come [Tuesday] to Luanda and we foresee meetings among UNITA leadership ... I think we will find a way to join the leaderships and to go to a congress later on [to choose a new party leadership] ... but we have to talk first."

He said the guerrilla faction would have to accept democratic principles and be willing to compromise during negotiations.

"In the next two days they will organise the signing ceremony [of the ceasefire accord], which will take place Thursday. Only after that will we begin with internal talks within UNITA. The most important thing is the compromise between us and those coming from the bush, because if we succeed to get that compromise we will succeed to go beyond the divisions," Manuvakola said.

He hoped to meet UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Advisor on Africa, Ibrahim Gambari, soon.

Gambari arrived in Luanda on Tuesday to represent the UN at the signing ceremony on Thursday. He is also expected to deliver a personal message from Annan to President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos on the peace process.

Gambari said on arriving in Luanda: "The Secretary-General, with the full support of the Security Council, has asked me to hold substantive discussions with the government of Angola and all the other stakeholders on the modalities for the presumption of the implementation of the remaining provisions of the Lusaka Protocol and to see clarification of the role of the United Nations in the remaining phases of the peace process."

"Lastly, I'm here to be on hand, encourage and to assist the parties in whichever way they deem appropriate to help move forward the process which should lead to lasting peace, national reconciliation and reconstruction in Angola."