Letter: Angolan impasse

Sir: Your article on the death of several workers at a diamond mine in North-east Angola (report, 11 November) fails to put the deteriorating situation in the context of the rebel movement Unita's continued refusal to comply with an internationally-backed peace agreement.

In 1992 the MPLA, which has been in power for over two decades, won the first multi-party elections - which were deemed free and fair by the United Nations. It was Unita that refused to accept these results and returned to war.

The 1994 peace deal was designed to bring Unita into government in return for the movement's disarmament and demilitarisation. Four Unita members sit in the Cabinet. Seventy Unita members sit in the country's parliament. Yet its leader, Jonas Savimbi, continues to pursue his preferred military option.

As the UN Security Council has stated, "the primary cause of the crisis in Angola and of the current impasse in the peace process is the failure by the leadership of Unita to comply with its obligations".

JOHN HUGHES

Angola Peace Monitor

London N1