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Zaire Relations with Angola since the War
Relations between Mobutu's Zaire and the MPLA
government in
Angola have ranged from formally correct to openly
hostile. An
initial move toward normalization, in 1976-77, was set
back by the
two invasions of Shaba Region by the FLNC from bases in
Angola.
After the collapse of the FNLA, Zaire had been supporting
Jonas
Savimbi's UNITA, also supported by South Africa, against
the MPLA
government. Starting in 1985, the air base at Kamina in
southeastern Zaire served as a transit point for American
aid to
UNITA fighters. In May 1986, Zambia charged that the
United States
was covertly supplying weapons to UNITA via Zaire, but
Mobutu
denied these allegations, and in July 1986, he visited
Angola and
declared his support for the MPLA government.
In April 1987, Zaire, Angola, and Zambia signed a
declaration
of intent to restore cross-border traffic on the Benguela
Railway,
providing an outlet to the Atlantic that is crucial to the
copper
industries of both Zambia and Zaire. The railroad's
international
functions had been effectively shut down since 1975 by
UNITA
operations. UNITA reportedly agreed to the resumption of
traffic on
condition that the railroad not be used to move arms or
troops.
However, continuing insecurity made it difficult to
rehabilitate
the rail line.
By 1988 international efforts to end the impasse over
Namibian
independence had led to linkage of South African
withdrawal from
Namibia to a phased Cuban withdrawal from Angola. But no
agreement
had been reached to end the fighting within Angola itself.
When
Mobutu went to Zambia in August to attend a conference, he
found
himself in an informal summit of southern African leaders,
including those of Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Mozambique, and
Uganda.
Apparently it was put to Mobutu that his continued
logistical
support for UNITA was retarding progress toward Namibian
independence. That same month, the chairman of the OAU
called
together the heads of state of Angola, Congo, Gabon, and
Zaire to
find a solution to the Angolan problem.
Over the next nine months, a series of meetings,
bilateral as
well as regional, took place, often at the level of heads
of state.
In the course of these meetings, Mobutu improved his
relations with
Angola's president, José Eduardo dos Santos, and distanced
himself
somewhat from UNITA. Early in May 1989, the heads of
Angola, Congo,
Gabon, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe, Zaire, Zambia,
and
Zimbabwe met in Luanda and announced their commitment "to
end the
interference in Angola's internal affairs" and "guarantee
security
and stability" on Angola's frontiers. They were to meet
again in
August.
Suddenly, however, came the Gbadolite Summit of June
22, at the
time a triumph for Mobutu. The Angolan peace process
seemed to have
slowed, with the Luanda government still refusing to
negotiate with
Savimbi in person. Some days before June 22, Mobutu began
inviting
African heads of state to Gbadolite; eventually, seventeen
of them
took part. Dos Santos and UNITA's Jonas Savimbi shook
hands at
Gbadolite, and a declaration was signed endorsing a
cease-fire and
integration of UNITA leaders into the Luanda government.
With the
successful Gbadolite meeting behind him--and with his
difficulties
with Belgium and the IMF resolved at least
temporarily--Mobutu flew
to Washington, where he was the first African head of
state to be
received at the White House by President George Bush. Soon
thereafter, the agreement collapsed, when it became
apparent that
Mobutu had misrepresented the positions of the Angolan
rivals. It
took another year of negotiations, this time mediated by
Portugal,
before UNITA and the MPLA government were able to reach an
agreement on ending their struggle of nearly two decades.
Data as of December 1993
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