From: barnhart@gagme.chi.il.us (Mr. Aaron Barnhart)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african
Subject: IPS: ANGOLA: TENSION MOUNTS OVER WHETHER SAVIMBI WILL ACCEPT DEFEAT
Date: 13 Oct 92 03:55:39 GMT
Organization: Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A.
Originator: barnhart@gagme

Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: ANGOLA: TENSION MOUNTS OVER WHETHER SAVIMBI WILL ACCEPT DEFEAT


an inter press service feature

by vicki finkel

angola, oct 5 (ips) -- suspense grips angolans as they await the
final results of last week's two-day multi-party elections.

with about 80 percent of the votes in, angola's president
eduardo jose dos santos has about 51.4 percent of the count to
38.8 percent of his long-time foe, jonas savimbi, leader of the
national union for the total independence of angola (unita).

in the parliamentary race for the 223 seats, dos santos's
ruling popular movement for the liberation of angola (mpla) has
more than a commanding lead over unita.

savimbi has been slowly cutting down dos santos' lead as
results from more inaccessible and mostly rural areas trickle
in.

the unita leader retains the majority of his support in the
principally rural areas of the south and central highlands among
his ovimbundu people, while dos santos controls most of the
urban votes outside the unita areas.

it is still too early to rule out a run-off between dos
santos and savimbi in a second round of voting which will be
necessary if no presidential candidates attains a majority of
the votes counted.

but it is not too early for the international observers
eyeing the process to express their general satisfaction. u.n.
special representative to angola, margaret anstee, reserves her
stamp of ''free and fair'' on the elections until the final and
official results have been released, scheduled for friday at the
latest.

but the belligerent language of savimbi at the weekend over
the provisional results have renewed fears in this war-ravaged
country over the fragility of the generally-peaceful climate
experienced ever since the end of the political campaign sep.
27.

this tranquility allowed angolans to return to work and
resume their daily lives. even the parallel exchange rate of the
dollar in the street dropped dramatically, attesting to the
general level of confidence over the country's near future.

but savimbi repeatedly charged the elections were plagued by
fraud, and he has threatened not to accept defeat. (more/ips)


angola: tension (2)

''we did not fight for 16 years to allow the government to
manipulate the election results'', savimbi said over 'vorgan',
the unita radio which was supposed to have shut down before the
elections.

after a meeting saturday with dos santos, the head of the
u.s. observer mission in angola, jeffrey millington, said unita
must give specific proof of alleged violations.

echoing the sentiments of many other u.s. observers who
witnessed the voting process, millington emphasised the the
elections were conducted in an impressively free and fair
manner.

during its guerrilla campaign against the cuban and the then
soviet union-backed marxist government, savimbi received
millions of dollars every year in u.s. overt and clandestine
assistance.

but savimbi says the views of international observers do
not count here. what is important is what angolans think.

in a further effort to appease savimbi, u.s. assistant
secretary of state for african affairs, herman cohen, sunday
made a special televised appeal to the unita leader from rome
where he attended the signing of the mozambique peace accord.

''dr. savimbi, it is now time to think of the angolan people
and their needs for the country's reconstruction'', cohen urged.

''if savimbi does not win the elections, the united
states believes that he will continue to play a big role
in the reconstruction of the countrty'', added the u.s.
diplomat.

but savimbi's threats have drilled new fear into the
country. some foreign embassies reportedly refused to allow
their nationals to go out at night over the weekend.
gunfire was heard in the evening throughtout the  angolan
capital.

the process of counting the votes suffered a setback monday
by reports that unita had surrounded the airport in the central
province of malanje, where the mpla is known to be stronger.

but, according to onofre santos, the director-general of
elections, ''the situation was under control'' by early
afternoon.

the joint commission in charge of implementing the peace
process late monday began investigating unita and government
complaints concerning the election proceedings.
(end/ips/vf/apc/0a/92)