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Catholic Church Willing to Meet Angolan Rebel Leader Over Peace
The Bishops Conference of Angola and Sao Tome has reiterated the Catholic Church's willingness to meet with Angolan rebel leader Jonas Savimbi to discuss ways to bring peace to Angola, the Portuguese news agency Lusa reported Thursday.
Such a meeting would be a consequence of the mid-July Church-sponsored Congress for Peace in Luanda, during which participants called for a cease-fire in the 26-year Angolan civil war and urged resolution for the conflict through dialogue, the news agency quoted Bishop Zacarias Camuenho as saying.
However, Camuenho stressed that any meeting with Savimbi would have to take place in a "climate of confidence", a condition that is not assured at present.
Accusing Savimbi of not keeping his promises in the peace accords and during the 1992 general elections, the Angolan government has refused to hold talks with the rebel leader except "the talks on his capitulation".
At the moment, most Angolans are tired of talking about the civil war, which has deprived some 500,000 Angolans of their lives and destroyed most infrastructures that are important for the country's economic development.
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