Humanitarian sources told Lusa the situation was being used in disinformation campaigns conducted by East Timorese anti-independence militias in a number of refugee camps in the Indonesian western half of Timor island. One hostage has just been released. Five of the foreign nationals were kidnapped in early March, while the three others were captured in May 2000. In the statement, the Luanda government also said it regretted that Portuguese media and several political figures have spoken as if Cabinda was not part of Angola. Despite its small size, most of Angola's offshore oil deposits are located in Cabinda.
Oil exports are Angola's main foreign currency earner.
Gunfight, Other Incidents, Raise Tension Along Border UN peacekeepers exchanged gunfire, for the second time in less than 48 hours, with presumed anti-East Timor independence militiamen along the border with Indonesia and were investigating two other gun and grenade attacks, the peacekeeping command said Tuesday in Dili. Only one casualty, a Timorese woman who was shot in a leg, was reported in the separate incidents Monday night near the border. The soldiers responded to the gunfire. In another area of Suai district, residents of Lebos reported that unidentified attackers lobbed two grenades into their village Monday night, only one of which exploded but caused no victims, the PKF communique said. Peacekeepers, the PKF said, took the woman to hospital, questioned her husband and were investigating further.