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 -------------- ¶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 -------------- ¶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 -------------- ¶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" -------------- ¶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