Letter to the U.S. House of Representatives from the Angolan ambassador
to the U.S. outlining Angola's policy toward the conflict in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (DROC).
Embassy of the Republic of Angola
1615 M Street N.W Suite 900 Washington, DC 20036
Tel: (202)785-1156 Fax: (202)7851258
September 15. 1998
The Honorable Edward Royce
United States House of Representatives
Room 1133 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Mr. Chairman:
I understand that today you will convene a hearing on the situation in
the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DROC.). In direct relation to that
hearing, I wanted to take this opportunity to outline for you the
Government of Angola's policy toward the conflict in DROC.
For almost two years, events in the DROC have been troubling and
dangerous. This continues to be the case with rebels, sponsored by
Rwanda, Uganda and others, attempting to overthrow the
internationally-recognized government of President Laurent Kabila.
Indeed, Ugandan and Rwandan troops are directly involved in the fighting
against the DROC government. My government believes that the current
situation has the potential to destabilize the entire region because the
DROC borders nine other countries, the war creates tremendous
humanitarian and human rights problems, and it undercuts the nascent
trend in Africa toward good governance and economic stability and
growth.
The conflict in the DROC represents a direct threat to Angola's
strategic national assets, our ongoing peace process, the security of
our extensive border with the DROC, and our relations with many of our
neighbors. As a result, and at the specific request of President Kabila,
my government sent military forces to the DROC as part of a larger
Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) operation. Our troops are
conducting operations in coordination with DROC military personnel and
troops from Namibia and Zimbabwe.
I want to stress that Angolan troops are stationed in the DROC as part
of the SADC operation, which is a direct response to President Kabila's
request for assistance from that organization. These operations were
approved by SADC leaders as recently as the September 13-14 summit in
Mauritius.
The Government of Angola was also reacting to the threat that the rebels
posed to Angola's strategic national assets, specifically our petroleum
resources. Further, we believed that it was critical to do our best to
protect our lengthy border with the DROC.
In addition, it was vital to our interests to take action in the DROC in
order to pre-empt UNITA from utilizing instability in the DROC to
further stall the Angolan peace process and from exploiting the
situation to circumvent UN sanctions, specifically regarding the
re-supply of military equipment and movement of UNITA military personnel
across the border.
As for the future of our involvement in the DROC, I want to be very
specific about our intentions. President dos Santos has made it crystal
clear that we deployed troops to the DROC as the request of President
Kabila, who asked for assistance from his SADC colleagues. Angola has no
intention of expanding the scope of its operations in the DROC. We are
also doing our best to stress to all of the relevant parties that basic
human rights must be adhered to and that atrocities must be prevented.
I want also to make it clear that our intention is to withdraw our
forces from the DROC as quickly as possible. While Angola is prepared to
assist its neighbors when necessary, we do not consider ourselves the
region's policeman. In that regard and looking ahead, we have made it
clear publicly and privately that Angola supports a diplomatic solution
to the conflict, and believes that it would be prudent to install a
government of national unity and develop confidence building measures
between the DROC and its neighbors that avoid such conflicts in the
future
Finally. I am pleased that you are convening your hearing because Angola
firmly believes that the US has a central role to play in bringing a
diplomatic resolution to the current conflict in the DROC and to working
with African nations to avoid future wars. My government stands ready to
work with the US in achieving these goals.
Thank you for the opportunity to address this important issue. Please do
not hesitate to contact me if you would like to consult on these
matters.
Respectfully,
/signed/
António dos Santos França
Ambassador to the United States