Southern Africa: 'Seize the Moment', Bush Urges Southern African Leaders

27 February 2002
allAfrica.com
By Charles Cobb Jr.

Washington, DC — Events in Angola, particularly the death of Unita leader Jonas Savimbi five days ago, dominated an hour-long meeting between President George W. Bush and Angolan President José Eduardo Dos Santos, Mozambican President Joaquim Alberto Chissano, and Botswana President Festus Mogae on Tuesday.

The charismatic but tyrannical Unita leader ruled his guerrilla movement, the Union for the Total Independence of Angola, with a rod of iron for 35 years. He repeatedly abandoned peace agreements with the MPLA government and went back to fighting a war against the MPLA government which, some estimates say, has claimed a million lives. Most analysts believe Savimbi's death presents the best chance so far, to reach a lasting agreement.

Bush said he supports calls for a ceasefire and, in a statement issued after the White House meeting with the African leaders, he urged Angola's president to "seize the moment... President Dos Santos has it within his power to end 26 years of fighting by reaching out to all Angolans willing to lay down their arms."

In a wide-ranging interview with allAfrica.com after the meeting, Mozambique's President Joaquim Chissano said Dos Santos told Bush that "the situation now brings about a better prospect for peace and reconciliation." However, the Angolan President also cautioned that, while he hopes quickly to achieve a ceasefire, it will depend heavily "on the will of those who are fighting."

Unita has continued fighting and says the government must adopt a unilateral ceasefire. In the first reported Unita attack since Savimbi's death nine people were killed on Monday and 15 wounded, according to Portugal's Lusa news agency.

The Washington meeting was planned before Savimbi's death and is the second "mini summit" President Bush has held with African heads of state. In addition to discussing Angola, said Chissano, the leaders pressed for more help with the Aids crisis besieging Africa, and raised issues of poverty and development, and "capacity-building" in Africa. For his part, Bush said that his policy "was to put Africa as a priority," according to Chissano.

Both U.S. officials and the African Presidents characterized the meeting, which ran for 15 minutes longer than scheduled, as "good." But when asked if Bush had made any specific commitments, Chissano said, "No. We didn't go into details. We spoke of principles."

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