low graphics version | feedback | help
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has warned that the civil war in Angola could spill across the borders of Namibia and Zambia, threatening peace and security in the entire region.
Mr Annan's warning comes in a report to the UN Security Council, in which he recommends a six-month extension to the mandate of the small UN office in Angola.
He believes the Angolan armed forces are making significant progress in eroding the ability of their Unita opponents to wage conventional war.
But Mr Annan says the Unita rebels are responding by increasingly resorting to guerrilla-type operations intended to make the country ungovernable.
Fighting spreads
As the Angolan forces press on with their campaign to eliminate the last pockets of Unita resistance, the hostilities are spreading dangerously close to the country's borders.
Both Zambia and Namibia have reported casualties from fighting on their territory.
 President dos Santos has not reached a political deal with Unita |
Although Mr Annan believes the lack of any political breakthrough in Angola means the country could be entering a new phase of political and military impasse, he believes the UN's small office there is doing valuable work.
He says it is assisting the government in the field of human rights and helping mobilise international aid, and deserves a six-month extension to its mandate.
The UN secretary-general makes no secret of the fact that he believes the Unita rebels bear primary responsibility for the resumption of the fighting in Angola, because of their failure to abide by a peace agreement signed six years ago.
Hundreds of thousands of people have died in the civil war in Angola during the past 25 years.
| Search BBC News Online | |
|  Advanced search options | |
| |
 | |
 | |
| |
 | BBC RADIO NEWS |
| |
| |
 | BBC ONE TV NEWS |
| |
| |
| WORLD NEWS SUMMARY |
| |
| |
| |
| |
 | PROGRAMMES GUIDE |
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
E-mail this story to a friend
