Angola reports that Jonas Savimbi's body was shown Saturday to journalists in Lucusse, where the government said he the rebel leader was killed in battle. Savimbi was shot 15 times in the clash between his National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and government troops in the region of Luvu. Lawmaker Jose Domingos Maluca, who belongs to a pro-Savimbi group within parliament, said he was "cautious" about the news and was still waiting for confirmation from UNITA. Analyst Justino Pinto de Andrade said the government now had to take the initiative, because "if Savimbi was, as the government has always claimed, the cause of the war, it's up to the government to cease hostilities." Pinto also warned that Savimbi's death could create an uncontrollable situation within the rebel movement, and that an internal power struggle could prolong the war.
The war in Angola's been grinding on for 30 or 35 years. UNITA now has an excuse to stop it. Since we're talking about Africa, they probably won't. |