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INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 LUANDA 000235 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF/S 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/13/2017 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PDEM AO
SUBJECT: ANGOLA: UNITA BELIEVES SHOTS FIRED WERE AN ATTEMPT 
ON SAMAKUVA,S LIFE 
 
REF: 06 LUANDA 1297 
 
Classified By: Amb. Cynthia Efird for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: On March 2, shots were fired at the UNITA 
party headquarters in Camabatela, Kwanza Norte province while 
UNITA president Isaias Samakuva was in the building.  UNITA 
representatives publicly announced to the media and privately 
to emboff that the shots fired were a direct threat to 
Samakuva's life, while the government insisted they were only 
a random weapon discharge on a Friday night.  Using the 
attention generated by the incident, Samakuva has increased 
his criticism of the government, focusing on the lack of 
independence in the judiciary and the widespread insider 
business dealings of high ranking officials.  Other UNITA 
leaders allege that the incident was a government attempt to 
intimidate UNITA in the lead-up to elections.  Although 
investigations continue, it is likely that this event will 
remain an unsolved incident in Angolan pre-election lore, 
with each side interpreting it to its best political 
advantage.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) P/E Chief met with UNITA spokesperson Adalberto da 
Costa Junior on March 7, 2007 for UNITA,s readout of the 
events surrounding the shots fired in Camabatela, in Kwanza 
Norte province during the March 2 visit of UNITA president 
Isaias Samakuva. 
 
UNITA,s View of Events: 
----------------------- 
¶3. (SBU) UNITA,s version of the events is as follows:  As 
part of a tour of municipalities in Kwanza Norte province, 
Samakuva planned a March 2 visit to the small town of 
Camabatela, including an overnight stop.  A UNITA advance 
team had arranged hotel reservations several days ahead of 
the trip, and had traveled to Camabatela in advance of 
Samakuva,s party.  The hotel manager on March 2 told the 
advance team that he had been visited by the Police 
Investigations Division who told him not to allow UNITA to 
stay at the hotel, or hold any meetings there.  The police 
returned on the afternoon of March 2 and reiterated the 
message, ordering the hotel manager to close the hotel which 
he then did, evicting the UNITA advance team from the 
premises. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Earlier on March 2, da Costa said that Samakuva held 
a &positive meeting8 with the governor of Kwanza Norte in 
provincial capital of N,dalatando and then proceeded north 
for the 150 kilometer drive to Camabatela.  In addition to 
the UNITA members in the traveling party, Samakuva was 
escorted by his standard detail from the Protocol Protection 
Unit (UPIP) which provides protection to Angolan VIPs and 
foreign dignitaries, as well as an additional detail of the 
provincial police.  Arriving in Camabatela in the evening, 
Samakuva proceeded directly to the UNITA party headquarters 
where he was briefed on the circumstances surrounding the 
change in venue.  Some of the police detail were also present 
inside the building.  About this time there was a power 
failure.  Shortly thereafter, approximately ten shots were 
fired at the UNITA headquarters, with at least three entering 
the building through the windows; other shots lodged in the 
building exterior.  Samakuva was not hurt although two 
bullets were imbedded in the wall close to where he had been 
standing.  One bullet hit a local youth in the foot. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Members of the police detail inside the building 
identified the direction from which the shots were fired and 
grabbing flashlights, went out across the street in search of 
the assailants.  They found three armed men in front of/near 
the MPLA headquarters, which is located directly across the 
street from the UNITA headquarters, with guns they believed 
showed evidence of being recently fired.  Shortly thereafter, 
a fourth man on motorcycle stopped in front of the UNITA 
headquarters and drew his weapon but was disarmed and 
apprehended by the police details and UNITA members.  This 
man was identified by the Camabatela national police as a 
policeman who had been suspended 15 days prior to the 
incident for disciplinary reasons.  End UNITA version of 
events. 
 
¶6. (SBU) UNITA said that it was only able to make the details 
of the event public on Sunday, March 4, because those 
directly involved were out of satellite and telephone 
communication until Saturday evening.  When asked why UNITA 
had not pressed charges, Da Costa questioned why the police 
would need to receive a formal complaint to investigate shots 
fired against any Angolan citizen.  Note: Bullets were dug 
from the interior walls of the building although Angolan 
police have little capacity for forensic investigation. End 
note. 
 
LUANDA 00000235  002 OF 003 
 
 
 
But Still Actively Participating in the Government 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
¶7. (SBU) UNITA called a press conference on Tuesday, March 6, 
to present its version of facts to the public.  Flanked by 
nearly all the top party insiders, including Abel 
Chivukuvuku, Samakuva reiterated his commitment to continue 
institution strengthening in Angola, especially in light of 
the approaching elections.  This speech was similar in 
vehemence to his December speech in which he compared the dos 
Santos regime to that of former Portuguese dictator Salazar 
(reftel).  Samakuva criticized the lack of impartiality in 
the judicial branch and in the electoral process.  He alleged 
that &almost all high level government officials, with few 
exceptions, use the government to do business with their own 
private enterprises.  This turns into current practice, 
institutionalizing corruption, while the common citizen is 
walking in the mud, with no potable water and without even 
the dream of electricity.8  Note: Chivukuvuku is expected to 
be Samakuva,s main competitor for the UNITA presidency in 
the upcoming party elections.  End note. 
 
Angolan Police Account 
---------------------- 
¶8. (SBU) According to press accounts in the government-owned 
Jornal de Angola, the National Police division of Kwanza 
Norte province reported that it was investigating a report of 
seven shots fired by a Kalashnikov in Camabatela during a 
time at which the UNITA president happened to be visiting the 
town.  The Police spokesperson confirmed that local police 
forces reacted quickly, going to the area where the shots 
were presumed to have originated.  However, one of those sent 
to investigate the shots, sub-inspector Francisco Carioca, 
was attacked by UNITA provincial authorities and because of 
the injuries sustained in the attack was hospitalized in 
N,dalatando.  Despite the electricity outage, Carioca was 
able to identify the perpetrators by name and the police have 
issued arrest warrants for those who attacked him.  The 
police said it believes the shots fired were an incident of 
random shooting (of which there are many in Angola), and are 
investigating it as such.  According to the police, since 
UNITA did not file a complaint, it does not believe that this 
incident was an attempt on the life of Samakuva, but rather 
an incident of random gunshots and UNITA officials attempt to 
justify beating the sub-inspector. 
 
¶9. MPLA spokesperson, Norberto dos Santos, &Kwata Kanawa,8 
in a statement to the Press, denied that the incident 
represented an attempt on Samakuva,s life and demanded that 
UNITA back up its allegations with proof during the next 
Bilateral Commission meeting between the government and UNITA. 
 
Reactions from Inside and Outside Angola 
---------------------------------------- 
¶10. (C) Da Costa told us that many representatives of 
Embassies in Luanda, leaders of the other opposition parties, 
politicians and officials from Africa and Europe have called 
personally to talk to Samakuva and see how he is doing.  Da 
Costa said that Samakuva received no calls from any MPLA or 
government officials, not even from colleagues with whom he 
serves in the Parliament or on the Bilateral Commission.  He 
said Samakuva was not going to let the incident change his 
behavior and planned to continue to meet with the public, 
especially as the country geared up for the elections.  Da 
Costa said that even though many of the UNITA inner circle 
had experienced  close calls, during the war, the incident 
reminded them that they could  take a bullet, at any point. 
 Note: Samakuva attended a large non-denominational church 
service in honor of the visit of the Archbishop of Canterbury 
to Angola on Sunday, March 11 seemingly accompanied by only 
one bodyguard.  The crowd cheered loudly for him when he was 
introduced.  End note. 
 
UNITA Sees Shots as a Serious Incident 
-------------------------------------- 
¶11. (C) Da Costa said UNITA saw the incident as a threat to 
Samakuva, in particular given the proximity to Samakuva with 
which several bullets had landed.  While he acceded to the 
possibility that the shots: 1) originated with a lone 
individual with no connection to the government or MPLA; 2) 
were intended only as a sign not meant to be a threat; 3) 
originated within UNITA in a bid to create more chaos within 
in the party, he returned to the UNITA position that the 
government/MPLA (used interchangeably) had a hand in the 
incident.  While presenting no evidence of government 
involvement, Da Costa criticized the MPLA/Government reaction 
to the incident as extremely weak. 
 
¶12. (C) UNITA was widely quoted in the opposition press on 
March 10-11 characterizing this incident as another example 
 
LUANDA 00000235  003 OF 003 
 
 
of the government,s &intolerance8 and intimidation. 
Spokesman da Costa also used the expression &intolerance8 
to emboff, citing the February detention and arrest (later 
released) of eight PADEPA members for distributing pamphlets 
on the street and the arrest and detention of Global Witness 
activist Dr. Sarah Wykes as recent examples of government 
actions to warn off political parties or individuals from 
questioning its commitment to transparency and 
democratization. 
 
¶13. (C) Comment: While investigations continue, it is likely 
that this will remain an unsolved incident in Angolan 
pre-election lore, with each side interpreting it to its best 
political advantage.  However it is clear that UNITA has 
taken the incident seriously.  The display of solidarity with 
Samakuva by those party leaders, including Chivukuvuku and 
others who have criticized Samakuva in the past, is UNITA,s 
way of sending the message that when threatened by the 
outside, UNITA will put aside its internal disagreements and 
stand together as a party.  End Comment. 
EFIRD