ANGOLA: UNITA KILLS 80 IN DIAMOND ZONE

Angolan rebels gunned down more than 80 diamond diggers in an attack in the
gem-rich northeast of the country, Reuters reported on Friday, quoting Voice
of America (VOA).

"More than 80 people were killed and various others wounded while others fled into the bush after an attack near Kuango," said the US radio service, which has a local station in the Angolan capital.

The aim of the attack on Saturday, which a local source blamed on members of
UNITA, was to steal food, the source said. Many of the wounded leapt into
the Kuango River, the source told VOA. The attack follows the murder of six
chiefs two weeks ago by UNITA rebels in the Kuango area, which is deemed to
have the best diamonds in Angola.

Since its formation in 1966 UNITA has used diamonds to buy arms in illegal
trade that earned the rebels, under elusive leader Jonas Savimbi, as much as
US $3 billion between 1992 and 1998. Many of Angola's thousands of diamond
diggers, known as garimpeiros, come from across the border in the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC). It was not clear from the report how many foreigners had been killed. --- MISANET