The Pentagon and Africa

At this point, my coverage of Angola (and Africa) shifted from the continent itself. I was reassigned to the Pentagon as a defense and security issues reporter. I quickly discovered that no one appeared to have ever asked officials in the US Defense Department many, if any, questions about Africa and US policies toward African issues. So I started asking --- and to my delight, I found a number of individuals, military and civilian, who were responsive. One of my first reports from the Pentagon about Africa involved Angola. It came in late October 2000 when a senior US defense official said the Clinton Administration had rebuffed Angolan government requests for help in tracking down fugitive UNITA rebel leader Jonas Savimbi. I had the scoop on this previously undisclosed decision and the reasons behind it.

A senior US defense official says Angola has sought American assistance in tracking down fugitive UNITA rebel leader Jonas Savimbi, a former ally armed by Washington in the 1980’s as a counter to then Soviet and Cuban influence in Angola.

But the US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, says Washington has refused to provide any help --- despite its professed desire for closer ties with the former Marxist government in Luanda. He says the reason is a simple one: the Clinton administration does not want to be a party to getting Mr. Savimbi killed, which the official says the United States fears is Angola's intent.

Put another way, the official says "if we helped the Angolan government capture Savimbi, he would probably not survive the experience."

Diplomatic sources say they understand Angolan President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos has issued orders that Mr. Savimbi is to be captured alive and brought to the capital, Luanda, to stand trial on criminal charges.

But even senior aides to the Angolan leader concede any soldiers involved in Mr. Savimbi's capture would be unlikely to restrain themselves. These aides are convinced the rebel leader would be killed on the spot in retaliation for the pain and suffering heis accused of causing.

While admitting US reluctance to provide Angola with what he terms "actionable intelligence" regarding Mr. Savimbi, the official also insists the United States does not know where the rebel leader is. He maintains Washington lacks the technical capacity to pinpoint the fugitive rebel leader's whereabouts in a country as vast and remote as Angola.

Security experts familiar with US intelligence-gathering techniques scoff at this assertion. For their part, Angolan military officials believe the United States won't help because it still views the one-time Marxist powers in Luanda with suspicion.

The senior US defense official gives no explanation for the administration's decision not to help in Mr. Savimbi's capture beyond suggesting that such an action would be part of a "war" strategy. He says the United States, while supportive of sanctions against UNITA and its leaders, is for a "peace" strategy instead.

Experts at South Africa's influential Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria say the US position, while certain to be viewed as controversial, makes sense. These experts believe Mr. Savimbi's death would likely lead to the splintering of UNITA and the birth of an assortment of rival rebel movements. They say this runs the risk of perpetuating war in Angola, which has not enjoyed peace since its independence from Portugal in 1975. The oil and diamond rich country, they argue, will be no closer to stability.

On the other hand, these sources believe that keeping Mr. Savimbi alive leaves open the possibility of some sort of renewed effort to arrange a political solution in Angola.

The problem faced by US, South African and other key policymakers who continue to press for a negotiated peace in Angola is that the Luanda government insists it will no longer talk with Mr. Savimbi. Angola charges the rebel leader refused to live up to his commitments under a United Nations brokered 1994 peace agreement, leaving the government with no option but to pursue a military solution to the conflict.

Government forces launched what has been billed in Luanda as "the final war for peace" in late 1998. A year ago, the Angolan offensive forced Mr. Savimbi to abandon UNITA's traditional strongholds in Angola's Central Highlands. He has been on the run since then.