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ANGOLA: Cabinda separatists call for an end to hostilities

JOHANNESBURG, 21 August (IRIN) - Separatist rebels in the oil-rich Cabinda enclave on Wednesday accused the Angolan government of stepping up a military offensive, and warned they would not participate in peace talks until hostilities ended.

"To the outside world, the government says it is prepared to negotiate but all evidence points to a concerted effort to destroy the strongholds of the Cabinda Armed Forces (FAC)," Francoise Xavier Builo, a representative of the FLEC-FAC faction, told IRIN.

Builo said that following the signing of the 4 April ceasefire between the government and UNITA, the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) had turned its attention to Cabinda.

"The government continues to use its slash and burn strategy. Miconge, Belize, Buco-Zau and Dinge have all come under attack. Instead of negotiating, the Angolan government is intent on using force," Builo said.

Awarded to Angola by the Portuguese prior to Angolan independence in 1975, Cabinda is Luanda's most strategic region. An impoverished but oil-rich area, it accounts for 60 percent of the country's oil production of over 700,000 barrels per day, which in turn represents some 90 percent of the country's export earnings.

Divided from the rest of Angola by a sliver of the Democratic Republic of Congo, its economic importance has made it a source of contention.

Founded in the early 1960s, the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC) is represented by at least two main factions.

Attempts to negotiate a ceasefire and hold talks on the future of the enclave have so far failed.

Earlier this year, Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos expressed the government's willingness to hold "broad consultations" on the status of Cabinda.

Said Builo: "We would hope that the president would adhere to the principle of the right to self-determination. We appeal to the government to hold a real referendum so that the people of Cabinda determine their own future in a peaceful way. Neutral, outside observers such as the UN would be welcomed to properly monitor such a referendum."

Political analysts, however, said that it was unlikely the MPLA government would consider a referendum for the enclave despite talk of autonomy for the lucrative region.

"The political dynamics have changed considerably over the last year. The government's ties with the regimes in the Congo and in the DRC have undermined the Cabinda rebels' sources of external support. This kind of isolation may well be the end for the separatists. It might push them to more desperate acts of violence but it is not likely to lead to their successful liberation from control by Luanda," senior researcher at the Luanda-based Centre for Strategic Studies, Mario de Sa, told IRIN.

[ENDS]

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