VZCZCXRO0982
RR RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHLU #0736 1981618
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 171618Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY LUANDA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3064
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY

UNCLAS LUANDA 000736 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM PTER AO
SUBJECT: ANGOLA - CABINDAN PEACE ACCORD NEGOTIATIONS 
CONCLUDE IN CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE 
 
REF: LUANDA 00729 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. On July 15, 2006, the final text of the Cabinda Peace 
Accord was approved and signed as a Memorandum of 
Understanding in Brazzaville.  The accord has six main 
components central to which is the still undefined special 
political and economic status for Cabinda.  Other items 
include granting amnesty to the Liberation of the Enclave of 
Cabinda (FLEC) soldiers, ceasing of hostilities, demobilizing 
the FLEC, decreasing of Armed Forces of Angola (FAA) presence 
in Cabinda, and reintegrating FLEC soldiers into various 
governmental positions.  The GRA's Minister of Territorial 
Administration, Virgilio Fontes Pereira, accurately summed up 
the Cabindan peace process when he stated that it had reached 
a "point of no return."  The official signing ceremony will 
take place in the Angolan province of Namibe at a 
yet-to-be-announced time.  End Summary. 
 
Final Text Approved 
------------------- 
 
¶2. On July 15, 2006, the GRA's Minister of Territorial 
Administration, Virgilio Fontes Pereira, and the Cabindan 
Forum for Dialogue's (FCD) President, Antonio Bento Bembe, 
approved and signed the final text of the Cabindan Peace 
Accord as a Memorandum of Understanding in Brazzaville, The 
Republic of the Congo.  The GRA delegation, led by Minister 
Pereira, also included General Helder Vieira Dias "Kopelipa", 
President dos Santos's Head of Military Affairs, General Jose 
Maria, Head of Military Intelligence, and General Marcos 
Correia "Banza", Commander of the Cabinda Military Region. 
The FCD delegation, led by Antonio Bento Bembe, was comprised 
of thirty individuals, including a number of Cabindan 
traditional leaders. 
 
¶3. The discussions in Brazzaville, hosted by the Congolese 
and African Union President, Denis Sassou Nguesso, began on 
Thursday, July 14.  According to July 17 news reports in the 
Jornal de Angola, the goverment-owned daily newspaper, the 
accord has six main components: special political and 
economic status for the province, an Amnesty law, the 
cessation of hostilities, the demobilization of FLEC, a 
reduction of FAA soldiers in Cabinda, and the reintegration 
of FLEC into various governmental positions and the Cabindan 
community.  The accord also creates a Joint GRA/FCD 
Commission to ensure that the six components are implemented. 
 
 
Special Status Still Undefined 
------------------------------ 
 
¶4. Although Cabinda's special political and economic status 
was one of the six components of the accord, the specific 
details of this status remain undefined.  According to 
Minister Pereira, "the status does not indicate the end of 
conversations, but is an instrument that affirms the 
development of the region."  A July 15 article in the Jornal 
de Angola noted that the specifics of the special status 
dominated the negotiations and that the GRA was concerned 
that certain of FCD's requests were constitutionally 
unfeasible. 
 
Comment - "Point of No Return" 
------------------------------ 
 
¶5.  Minister Pereira's statement that the negotiations had 
reached the "point of no return" sums up the current state of 
the Cabindan Peace Accord.  According to the Jornal de 
Anogla, a second and final cease-fire, mainly for public 
relations purposes, will be signed today, July 17, in 
Cabinda.  The official signing of the Cabindan peace accord 
is slated to be signed in the Angolan province of Namibe 
province at a yet-to-be-announced date. End Comment. 
EFIRD