ANGOLA - CABINDAN PEACE ACCORD NEGOTIATIONS

UNCLAS LUANDA 000736

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM PTER AO
SUBJECT: ANGOLA - CABINDAN PEACE ACCORD NEGOTIATIONS
CONCLUDE IN CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE

REF: LUANDA 00729

Summary
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1. On July 15, 2006, the final text of the Cabinda Peace
Accord was approved and signed as a Memorandum of
Understanding in Brazzaville. The accord has six main
components central to which is the still undefined special
political and economic status for Cabinda. Other items
include granting amnesty to the Liberation of the Enclave of
Cabinda (FLEC) soldiers, ceasing of hostilities, demobilizing
the FLEC, decreasing of Armed Forces of Angola (FAA) presence
in Cabinda, and reintegrating FLEC soldiers into various
governmental positions. The GRA's Minister of Territorial
Administration, Virgilio Fontes Pereira, accurately summed up
the Cabindan peace process when he stated that it had reached
a "point of no return." The official signing ceremony will
take place in the Angolan province of Namibe at a
yet-to-be-announced time. End Summary.

Final Text Approved
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2. On July 15, 2006, the GRA's Minister of Territorial
Administration, Virgilio Fontes Pereira, and the Cabindan
Forum for Dialogue's (FCD) President, Antonio Bento Bembe,
approved and signed the final text of the Cabindan Peace
Accord as a Memorandum of Understanding in Brazzaville, The
Republic of the Congo. The GRA delegation, led by Minister
Pereira, also included General Helder Vieira Dias "Kopelipa",
President dos Santos's Head of Military Affairs, General Jose
Maria, Head of Military Intelligence, and General Marcos
Correia "Banza", Commander of the Cabinda Military Region.
The FCD delegation, led by Antonio Bento Bembe, was comprised
of thirty individuals, including a number of Cabindan
traditional leaders.


3. The discussions in Brazzaville, hosted by the Congolese
and African Union President, Denis Sassou Nguesso, began on
Thursday, July 14. According to July 17 news reports in the
Jornal de Angola, the goverment-owned daily newspaper, the
accord has six main components: special political and
economic status for the province, an Amnesty law, the
cessation of hostilities, the demobilization of FLEC, a
reduction of FAA soldiers in Cabinda, and the reintegration
of FLEC into various governmental positions and the Cabindan
community. The accord also creates a Joint GRA/FCD
Commission to ensure that the six components are implemented.


Special Status Still Undefined
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4. Although Cabinda's special political and economic status
was one of the six components of the accord, the specific
details of this status remain undefined. According to
Minister Pereira, "the status does not indicate the end of
conversations, but is an instrument that affirms the
development of the region." A July 15 article in the Jornal
de Angola noted that the specifics of the special status
dominated the negotiations and that the GRA was concerned
that certain of FCD's requests were constitutionally
unfeasible.

Comment - "Point of No Return"
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5. Minister Pereira's statement that the negotiations had
reached the "point of no return" sums up the current state of
the Cabindan Peace Accord. According to the Jornal de
Anogla, a second and final cease-fire, mainly for public
relations purposes, will be signed today, July 17, in
Cabinda. The official signing of the Cabindan peace accord
is slated to be signed in the Angolan province of Namibe
province at a yet-to-be-announced date. End Comment.
EFIRD