Unita captures key airbase

Luanda - Jonas Savimbi's opposition Unita movement has scored its biggest military victory yet in northern Angola with the capture of Uige and the nearby strategic airbase of Negage, and left United Nations peace efforts in tatters, writes Karl Maier.

The fall of Uige and the airbase came after two days of heavy fighting which began at 4am on Sunday. Western military sources said yesterday that government security forces had fled Uige and were attempting to regroup to the south. One of the government's leading military commanders, General Higino Carneiro, said the armed forces 'are preparing for the worst'.