Angola Government Says UNITA's Savimbi Killed
Fri Feb 22, 5:14 PM ET By Justin Pearce LUANDA (Reuters) - Angolan UNITA
rebel leader Jonas Savimbi, who battled the Luanda government for decades in
one of Africa's longest-running wars, was killed in a clash with government
troops on Friday, Angolan state media reported.

<A HREF="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=index&cid=702">Photos</A>

><A HREF="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/020222/170/15cpx.html">
</A>Reuters Photo



"In Moxico province, Jonas Malheiro Savimbi died in combat," Angolan national
radio said. An Angolan presidential spokesman told a Portuguese radio station
that government forces had Savimbi's body and planned to display it. A source
close to UNITA, contacted in Lisbon, had no immediate comment on the report.
Savimbi was the founding father of UNITA, which he says was born as an army
of "12 people with knives," leading the rebel movement since 1966. Fighting
in the former Portuguese colony in southwestern Africa has dragged on since
1975 and claimed an estimated one million lives. Presidential spokesman
Aldemiro de Conceicao, quoting a statement by the Angolan government and
armed forces, said Savimbi was killed at about 3 p.m. (8 a.m. EST) in
east-central Angola Asked in an interview with private TSF radio if Savimbi
was dead, he said: "I confirm it. In fact, the government just released a
statement confirming the death of Jonas Savimbi, which occurred today at 3
p.m. in the province of Moxico. "We had a problem that just now has been
removed," he added. The Angolan armed forces said Savimbi, 67, was killed "as
a result of a clash that occurred with a column that he was a part of," de
Conceicao said. Joao Laurenco, secretary-general of the ruling MPLA party
told state television that Savimbi had "chosen his own destiny." An
unofficial UNITA contact in Lisbon, Rui Oliveira, said: "We are waiting for
our forces in the interior to get in contact with us, only after that can we
talk." UNITA is an acronym for the National Union for the Total Independence
of Angola. BODY TO BE DISPLAYED De Conceicao said the armed forces had
Savimbi's body and planned to display it in the next few hours. "Certainly,
we are going to display Savimbi's body for photographs," he said. The report
of Savimbi's death comes as the United Nations (<A HREF="http://rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/*http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news?p=%22United%20Nations%22&c=&n=20&yn=c&c=news&cs=nw">news</A> - <A HREF="http://rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/*http://search.yahoo.com/bin/search?p=United%20Nations&cs=nw">web sites</A>) tries to
revive peace talks between Luanda's government and Savimbi's forces. The
Luanda government, which had been Marxist but has embraced market principles,
has reported several defections or the capture of top UNITA officers in
recent months. The stocky, ebullient son of a railway stationmaster, Savimbi
studied medicine in Lisbon and political science in Switzerland. He left
Europe in 1961 to fight Portuguese rule and formed UNITA. His forces and
allies came close to controlling Angola in fighting after the end of
Portuguese rule. However, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola,
backed by Cuban troops, swept through the country and won widespread
recognition as the government of Angola. TSF reported that the streets of
Luanda, the Angolan capital, were quiet. The Luanda police chief, Francisco
Pestana, told Portugal's Lusa news agency that gunfire had been heard in the
city, "but it is gunfire of joy." Portuguese state television RTP reported
from Luanda that the government had appealed for calm. The government also
said it could declare a nationwide cease-fire, RTP said.
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