Washington, DC — With the death of Unita leader Jonas Savimbi, pressure is mounting on Angola's government and the rebel group to resume peace talks and to bring other, non-combatant groups into those talks.
"We call upon both sides, in conjunction with the peaceful opposition, civil sectors and international community, to fulfill their obligation to bring peace to the Angola people," U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said at the weekend.
A spokesman for United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said on Sunday: "This is a new and changed situation. It is important for all in Angola to take advantage of the situation and move the peace process forward."
After meeting Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos in Lisbon, Portuguese Foreign Minister Jaime Gama said that the Angolan leader had told him Luanda was committed to taking "decided and very rapid steps in the direction of consolidating a cease-fire and to find platforms to (restore) the political process."
What Unita is prepared to do remains unclear. "There'll be no military victory" for the government, Unita spokesman Carlos Morgado said on the Portuguese cable news channel, SIC Noticias. But, quoted by the Lisbon newspaper, Publico, Morgado apparently also said: "The ball is now with Jose Eduardo dos Santos.... If he declares a cease-fire, obviously we have a path open that we did not have before."
Unita's response is likely to be complicated by a competition among senior members of the organization for the top post.
In Washington, where Dos Santos, along with Mozambican President Joaquim Alberto Chissano and Botswana President Festus Mogae, will meet U.S. President George Bush on Tuesday, the changed circumstances in Angola "will almost certainly move that issue to the top, or very near the top, of the agenda. It won't be ignored," said a source close to those planning the agenda.
"It is Mr. Bush's meeting," said a spokesman at the Angola embassy in Washington. "They submit an agenda to us and we discuss it." The embassy has not yet received the agenda: "But I think maybe there will be something more on Angola," the spokesman told allAfrica.com.
In announcing the meeting, earlier this month, the White House said: "President Bush looks forward to discussing issues affecting Southern Africa, particularly its political stability and security, trade and economic development, poverty reduction and HIV/Aids." At that time the Aids crisis and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) were reportedly topping the agenda.
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These issues remain an important part of the discussion, say knowlegeable sources, but just 45 minutes are scheduled for the White House talks and it is uncertain how much ground can be covered with such a range of issues.
On Capitol Hill, congressional aides dealing with Africa say the Bush administration is seeing an opportunity to advance peace, "to make a full court press for peace," said one.
The southern African Presidents will also meet with Vice-President Richard Cheney and Secretary of State Colin Powell on Wednesday.
