Angola

Country in southwest Africa, bounded west by the Atlantic Ocean, north and northeast by the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), east by Zambia, and south by Namibia. The Cabinda enclave, a district of Angola, is bounded west by the Atlantic Ocean, north by the Congo River, and east and south by the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Government
Under the 1991 constitution, there is a 223-member national assembly, elected by a system of proportional representation for a four-year term, and a president, directly elected for a five-year term, renewable only twice. From 1992 multiparty politics have functioned in both presidential and assembly elections.

History
Angola became a Portuguese colony in 1491 and an Overseas Territory of Portugal in 1951. A movement for complete independence, the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), was established in 1956, based originally in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This was followed by the formation of two other nationalist movements, the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA) and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). War for independence from Portugal broke out 1961, with MPLA supported by socialist and communist states, UNITA helped by the Western powers, and FNLA backed by the ‘nonleft’ power groups of southern Africa.

Republic
Three months of civil war followed the granting of full independence in 1975, with MPLA and UNITA the main contestants, and foreign mercenaries and South African forces helping FNLA. By 1975 MPLA, with the help of mainly Cuban forces, controlled most of the country and had established the People's Republic of Angola, with Luanda as its capital. Agostinho Neto, the MPLA leader, became its first president, and in 1977 the MPLA, the only legally permitted party, was restructured as the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola–Workers' Party (MPLA–PT). FNLA and UNITA had, in the meantime, proclaimed their own People's Democratic Republic of Angola, based in Huambo. President Neto died in 1979 and was succeeded by José Eduardo dos Santos, who maintained Neto's links with the Soviet bloc.

Lusaka Agreement
UNITA guerrillas, supported by South Africa, continued to operate and combined forces raided Angola 1980–81 to attack bases of the South-West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), who were fighting for Namibia's independence. South Africa proposed a complete withdrawal of its forces in 1983 if Angola could guarantee that the areas vacated would not be filled by Cuban or SWAPO units.

Angola accepted South Africa's proposals in 1984, and a settlement was made (the Lusaka Agreement), whereby a Joint Monitoring Commission was set up to oversee South Africa's withdrawal, which was completed in 1985. Relations between the two countries deteriorated in 1986 when further South African raids into Angola took place. UNITA also continued to receive South African support. Despite the securing of a peace treaty with South Africa and Cuba in 1988, guerrilla activity by the UNITA rebels began again in 1989.

Fighting resumes after free elections
A ceasefire negotiated in June 1989 between the Luanda government and UNITA's Jonas Savimbi collapsed two months later.

Following the signing of an official peace treaty in May 1991, President dos Santos promised a return to multiparty politics, and proclaimed an amnesty for all political prisoners. A general election victory in September 1992 by the MPLA–PT was disputed by UNITA, which recommenced the civil war in October and by early November controlled more than half the country. A run-off race between dos Santos and Savimbi was required for the presidency, but the decision to rerun the elections was subsequently rescinded and, in a reconciliatory gesture, UNITA was offered seats in the new government. Despite UNITA's acceptance of the offer, fighting between government and rebel forces resumed.

Escalation of hostilities
Hostilities intensified during 1993 and famine conditions were reported in UNITA-besieged towns. In April the dos Santos government was formally recognized by the US government. Emergency airlifts to besieged areas began in early September and in the same month a United Nations (UN) arms and fuel embargo was imposed against UNITA.

Peace treaty
In August 1994, after months of negotiation, a procedural agreement, intended to lead to a permanent settlement, was signed by government and UNITA representatives. Heavy fighting preceded the signing of a formal peace treaty in the Zambian capital, Lusaka, in November, which went ahead despite the absence of UNITA leader, Jonas Savimbi. The first UN peacekeeping troops were drafted in April 1995. A new timetable for peace talks was agreed in January 1996, but the first summit meeting was later cancelled. Dos Santos dismissed Prime Minister Moco and appointed the president of parliament, Fernando Franca van Dunem, as his successor. In September 1996 Savimbi turned down the post of vice-president in the coalition government, offered by dos Santos. After delays, in April 1997 a national unity government was sworn in, but Savimbi boycotted the ceremony.

In January 1998 the government concluded a new agreement with UNITA under the terms of the 1994 Lusaka protocol, whereby UNITA forces would be demobilized and it would be registered as a national political party. In March 1998 the demilitarized UNITA was formally legalized.

In August 1998 more than 150 people were killed in northeast Angola, allegedly by UNITA. In September 1998 Angola lurched towards civil war when the MPLA, the dominant partner in government, expelled UNITA from the government of national unity and parliament, citing the rebel movement's failure to disarm. Unrest increased in December 1998 and early January 1999, when UNITA rebels attacked two towns and shot down two UN aircrafts, which effectively put an end to the UN peace effort. Fierce fighting continued throughout January 1999 in Angola's central highlands between government and rebel forces. After four years of increasingly vain attempts to prevent fighting between Angola's warring factions, the UN decided in mid-January to withdraw its observer mission altogether. After the president had ordered this major offensive against the rebels, he reshuffled his cabinet and abolished the position of prime minister, taking on the job himself.

In April 1999, the UNITA rebels declared a bid for total control of the country. With one million people displaced by this intensifying civil war, Angola was heading for a humanitarian catastrophe in May. The World Food Programme appealed in July 1999 for $40 million to avoid widespread starvation in the country. People in the besieged city of Huambo were under particular threat.

The world's biggest diamond company, De Beers, in October 1999 placed an indefinite embargo on Angolan diamonds, stating that the decision was made in the interests of peace. It was the first time De Beers, which controlled 70% of the world's rough gem diamonds, had vetoed a particular country's production.

Angola's government, in October 1999, drove UNITA forces out of their traditional strongholds in the central highlands and pursued them into the eastern provinces. The government announced that it had captured UNITA's headquarters at Bailundo and Andulo, along with a string of towns in the provinces of Malanje, Kwanza Sul, Huambo, Bie, and Moxico. Fighting between Angolan government forces, Namibian troops, and UNITA continued throughout December 1999 and January 2000, as the rebels were pursued out of their stronghold at Jamba and along the Kavango river that separates Namibia and Angola, while civilians fled the border.

In April 2000, UNITA rebels launched a counter-offensive against the government, deepening the refugee crisis. Six months later, government troops made significant gains against UNITA in the east, near the border with Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In February 2001, 22 people were killed when UNITA shot down an Angolan Armed Forces airliner, and a further 200 people died in a UNITA raid near Luanda in May. Attacks continued in August, as UNITA forces launched an assault on the northern town of Uige and mined a train heading to Luanda, killing 250.

In February 2002, during an attack on UNITA forces in Moxico province, the army killed UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi. US president George Bush urged President Dos Santos to seize the chance to make peace with UNITA and end the civil war. The government responded to Bush's plea by announcing on 13 March that it would halt attacks. On 4 April 2002 the government and UNITA signed a ceasefire. The move followed the parliament's unanimous approval of an amnesty for UNITA guerrillas who surrendered.