South Africa promises help for Angola's peace process

January 8, 1997
Web posted at: 2:00 p.m. EST (1900 GMT)

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (CNN) -- President Nelson Mandela told UNITA former rebel leader Jonas Savimbi that South Africa would help to resolve problems hindering peace in Angola, officials from South Africa's Foreign Affairs Department said on Wednesday.

A statement issued after talks between groups led by the two did not give details on what South Africa's role would be, but a source said the Mandela government would not play a role as mediator.

Savimbi led a UNITA team to Umtata in South Africa's Transkei region for two days of talks with Mandela, who was on vacation in the area, and several other cabinet ministers.

Savimbi and Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos are trying to put a new government together under a 1994 peace plan that ended two decades of civil war. Progress has been slow.

Reuters contributed to this report.

 

Related sites:

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• Angola Peace Monitor
• The Republic of Angola
• Angola Page

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