ANGOLA BREAKS OFF PEACE TALKS WITH U.S

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000302080014-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 21, 2012
• Sequence Number: 14
• Publication Date: July 14, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
)/ Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/09/21 : C A-RDP90-00965R000302080014-7
ARTICIA
Cid PAU liPtitt,
WASHINGTON POST
14 July 1985
Angola Breaks Off Peace Talks
With U.S.
By Glenn Frankel
Washington Post Foreign Service
JOHANNESBURG, July 13?An-
gola has announced that it is break-
ing off talks with the United States
over a peace settlement in southern
Africa in retaliation for a congres-
sional vote allowing American aid to
antigovernment Angolan guerrillas.
The move, announced yesterday
in the Angolan capital, Luanda,
deals another blow to the Reagan
administration's 41/2-year effort to
negotiate a comprehensive agree-
ment that would lead to a withdraw-
al of Cuban troops from Angola
along with independence for the
neighboring South African-con-
trolled territory of Namibia.
In its statement, the Angolan
Foreign Ministry said congressional
repeal of the Clark amendment,
which since 1976 has banned aid to
rebel Angolan movements, was part
of a joint effort by the United States
and South Africa to "destabilize the
legitimate governments of southern
Africa."
The interests in the region of the
United States and white-ruled
South Africa were "perfectly iden-
tical," the statement added.
It continued: "The American ad-
ministration and the Pretoria gov-
ernment must be held responsible
for the escalation of violence in this
part of the continent."
Although Washington has no dip-
lomatic relations with the Marxist
government in Luanda, diplomats
from the two countries have held a
series of meetings during the past
three years in a search for a region-
al peace accord.
The most important break-
through came last year when Pre-
toria and Luanda agreed to form a
joint military commission to mon-
itor the withdrawal of South African
forces from southern Angola. Prior
to the agreement, South Africa had
staged periodic raids into Angolan
territory in pursuit of Namibian
guerrillas fighting South African
rule of their native land.
American diplomats had hoped
the withdrawal accord would be the
first step toward a settlement of
both the Namibian and Cuban is-
sues. They were encouraged fur-
ther late last year when Angolan
officials appeared to concede pub-
licly for the first time the possibility
of linking the two issues. Nearly
25,000 Cuban troops are reported
to be in Angola.
South Africa announced in April
thi.t it was withdrawing its remain-
ing soldiers from Angola. But in late
May, Angolan forces killed two
South African commandos and cap-
tured a third allegedly on a sabo-
tage mission inside northern
Cabinda Province. Last month
South African troops moved into
Angolan territory again, claiming
they killed 57 Namibian guerrillas
in retaliation for rebel attacks inside
Namibia.
The U.S. House of Representa-
tives repealed the Clark amend-
ment last Wednesday on a 236-185
vote. The Senate passed a similar
measure in June.
While the administration has wel-
comed the repeal, saying it would
give the United States more flex-
ibility in setting foreign policy, of-
ficials said there were no immediate
plans to begin funding anti-Marxist.
Angolan rebels, who are led by
Jonas' Savimbi and who receive
arms and other support from South
Africa.
The Clark amendment, named
after former senator Dick Clark
(D-Iowa), was passed by Congress
following revelations of Central In-
telligence Agency involvement in
Angola's civil war.
The amendment's repeal and the
Angolan reaction appear to leave
American diplomats almost back
where they started in 1981. The
diplomats have said repeatedly that
one of their biggest problems in the
negotiations has been to persuade
Angola's wary government of their
good faith.
Luanda's leadership has been
badly divided over talks with the
United States. Some factions have
argued that the negotiations were
merely an American ploy ultimately
designed to force the government
to negotiate a power-sharing accord
with Savimbi or to buy time while
Savimbi built his forces to over-
throw the government altogether.
South African Foreign Minister
Roelof F. (Pik) Botha disputed to-
day Angola's claim that his govern-
ment and Washington were working
together to undermine Angola,
pointing to the U.S. Senate vote
this week imposing economic sanc-
tions on South Africa.
"Only the Angolan government
can explain how it reconciles the
punitive measures being planned
against South Africa by the Amer-
ican Senate and House of Repre-
sentatives with the allegation that
the American Congress and South
Africa are in league," he said.
South Africa has made clear that
it will stay in Namibia, in defiance of
United Nations resolutions, until
Angola agrees to send home its
Cuban troops.
Last month South Africa installed
a new local government in Wind-
hoek, the Namibian capital, a step
many analysts see as further setting
back the prospects for a settlement
in the foreseeable future.
, Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/09/21 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000302080014-7