SECRETARY-GENERAL DEEPLY CONCERNED BY FURTHER SETBACKS TO ANGOLAN PEACE PROCESS
Press Release
SG/SM/6843
SECRETARY-GENERAL DEEPLY CONCERNED BY FURTHER SETBACKS TO ANGOLAN PEACE PROCESS
19981217 The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for Secretary- General Kofi Annan:The Secretary-General is deeply concerned that, despite his several public appeals, it has not been possible to avoid major fighting in the central part of Angola. The current hostilities represent a further setback to the efforts of the international community to reactivate the peace process and have resulted in a rapidly spreading humanitarian crisis.
The Secretary-General continues to believe that a lasting solution to the protracted conflict in Angola can only be achieved through full and unconditional implementation of the Lusaka Protocol and a process of genuine dialogue. In the meantime, he strongly urges the warring parties to desist form the present military confrontation and to ensure respect for human rights and humanitarian principles, including access to those who are in need.
In this connection, the Secretary-General is dismayed at the public statements attributed to senior Angolan Government representatives blaming the United Nations for the recent aggravation of the security situation in the country and the failure by the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) to demobilize all its forces. It is appropriate to remind the parties that all major decisions concerning the implementation of the Lusaka Protocol, including those on disarmament, were made by consensus between the Government, UNITA, the United Nations and the three observer countries to the peace process. Over the past four years, the United Nations is proud to have contributed in giving the Angolan parties an unprecedented period of relative peace and a unique opportunity to achieve national reconciliation. It is regrettable that this historic opportunity given to them has not been seized. It was and it still is their main responsibility to uphold this challenge vis a vis their own people.
In view of the precarious security situation in the country, the serious constraints imposed on the United Nations mediation and verification activities, as well as in keeping with the explicit request of the Government, the United Nations Observer Mission in Angola (MONUA) has been regrouping its personnel to safer areas. The United Nations will soon have to decide whether it can still play a useful peacekeeping role in the present rapidly diminishing security and political space.
* *** *