SOUTH AFRICA SEEKS SOLDIERS' RETURN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000201320004-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 13, 2012
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: May 25, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/13: CIA-RDP90-00965R000201320004-3
P1RTi1LF A:', "ARW NEW YORK TIMES
25 May, 1985
South Africa Seeks Soldiers' Return
By ALAN COWELL
Special to The New York Times
JOHANNESBURG, May 24 - South
Africa today requested an urgent meet-
in with la ola to discuss the return of
ou ncan soldiers reported
or taken prisoner in what appears to
have been an abortive covert mission
in northern Angola. There was no im-
mediate word of an Angolan reply.
On Thursday, South Africa acknowl-
eda or a irst time tf at it had sent
troops into northern Angola, saying
that they were on a spy mission.
Angola, however, sal esday
night that two South Africans were
killed and one was taken prisoner when
they were ambushed as they tried to
sabotage American-run oil installa-
tions in Cabinda, a province sand-
wiched between Congo and Zaire.
In a statement today, the South Af-
rican Foreign Minister, Roelof F.
Botha, defended the mission, saying
Pretoria had expressed "grave con-
cern" to Angola a year ago about a pur-
ported buildup of African National Con-
gress rebels in that country.
The African National Congress is the
most prominent of exiled movements
seeking to overthrow white minority
rule in South Africa. Mr. Botha said
South Africa had evidence that north-
ern Angola had become the main train-
ing area for the rebels.
Botha Sees `Direct Threat' .
He said African National Congress
personnel in Angola "pose a direct
threat" to the people of South Africa.
The statement also asserted that An-
gola was still permitting the insurgent
South-West Africa People's Organiza-
tion to make attacks from Angola in the
group's campaign to end South Africa's
control of South-West Africa, also
known as Namibia.
Mr. Botha said South Africa had no
alternative "but to take whatever ac-
tion it deems appropriate" to protect it-
self.
The statement did not refer to Ango-
lan statements that the soldiers were
intercepted as they moved to sabotage
oil installations in Cabinda. The instal-
lations, operated by a subsidiary of the
Gulf Oil Corporation, provide much of
Marxist-ruled Angola's foreign ex-
change and help it finance the presence
of about 25,000 Cuban soldiers on its
soil. Angola says the Cubans are there
to help protect the country from a
South African invasion.
On Thursday, Gen. Constand Viljoen,
commander of the South African
armed forces, said contact had been
lost with a small group of soldiers in
northern Angola. In his statement to-
day, Mr. Botha acknowledged that "a
small team of South Africans appar-
ently clashed with Angolan military
personnel."
Uproar Over Incident
The incident has caused an uproar in
South Africa, with one liberal newspa-
per, The Cape Times, calling the epi-
sode "The Cabinda Fiasco."
"The news from Angola is bewilder-
ing," the newspaper said in an editori-
al, "and the consequences in regional
diploi;:ay and relations with the West
are incalculable."
In Washington, the State Department
said Thursday that it deplored the inci-
dent, which could have a chilling effect
on South African-United States ties if it
turns out that an American-run oii in-
stallation was a sabotage target.
Angola termed the incident "part of
a vast plan of economic and political
destabilization against Angola."
South Africa's critics now seem cer-
tain to argue that the white authorities
have reverted to hard-line tactics to-
ward potentially hostile neighbors
after a year of agreements aimed at
easing tensions.
South Africa signed the agreements
last year with both Angola and Mozam-
bique. But since then, an insurgency in
Mozambique has spread despite Preto-
ria's protestations that it is no longer
supporting rebels seeking to overthrow
President Samora M. Machel.
Also, there has been no apparent eas-
ing of South Africa's support for the
rebellious National Union for the Total
Independence of Angola, led by Jonas
Savimbi, which is battling the Luanda
Government of President Jose
Eduardo dos Santos.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/13: CIA-RDP90-00965R000201320004-3