Blanket amnesty for Unita
2002-04-02 21:17
Luanda - Angola's parliament on Tuesday approved a blanket amnesty for the
rebel National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Unita),
which three days ago agreed to end hostilities in the country's
27-year-old war.
The amnesty, approved unanimously, covers "all civilians and
soldiers, Angolan or foreign, who committed crimes against the
security of the Angolan state" as well as "any person imprisoned
during the war as well as deserters" from the Angolan army.
The ceasefire agreement, signed in the eastern provincial
capital of Luena on Saturday, is to be formalised on Thursday at a
ceremony attended by President Jose Eduardo dos Santos and
representatives of the international community.
Angola's Paulo "Gato" Lukamba, the highest-ranking Unita
official since the battlefield deaths in February of long-time
leader Jonas Savimbi and his second in command, General Antonio
Dembo, will also attend.
The civil war launched in 1975 claimed more than half a million
lives, while more than 100 000 were mutilated and around one-third
of the population of 12 million were forced to flee their homes. - Sapa-AFP
- SAPA