Security Council meeting 3983

The President

I should like to inform the Council that I have received letters from the representatives of Angola and Zambia, in which they request to be invited to participate in the discussion of the item on the Council’s agenda. In conformity with the usual practice, I propose, with the consent of the Council, to invite those representatives to participate in the discussion, without the right to vote, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Charter and rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure.

There being no objection, it is so decided.

The President

On behalf of the Council, I welcome His Excellency General Higino Carneiro, the Vice-Minister for Territorial Administration of Angola, His Excellency Mr. Victor Lima, Adviser to the President for External Affairs, and the other members of the delegation of Angola.

On behalf of the Council, I welcome His Excellency the Honourable Keli Walubita, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Zambia, His Excellency the Honourable Dr. Katele Kalumba, the Minister for Home Affairs, His Excellency the Honourable Mr. Vernon J. Mwaanga, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the other members of the delegation of Zambia.

The President

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. The Council is meeting in accordance with the understanding reached in its prior consultations.

Members of the Council have before them document S/1999/203, which contains the text of a draft resolution prepared in the course of the Council’s prior consultations.

I should like to draw the attention of the members of the Council to the following other documents: S/1999/147, letter dated 12 February 1999 from the Chairman of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to Security Council resolution 864 (1993) concerning the situation in Angola addressed to the President of the Security Council; S/1999/166, letter dated 18 February 1999 from the Permanent Representative of Angola to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General; and S/1999/182, letter dated 20 February 1999 from the Permanent Representative of Zambia to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council.

The first speaker is the Vice-Minister for Territorial Administration of Angola, His Excellency General Higino Carneiro, on whom I now call.

Mr. Carneiro (Angola)

On behalf of the Government of the Republic of Angola, I bring greetings to all members of this Council and express our heartfelt gratitude for the efforts that the Secretary-General and the Security Council have made for the reestablishment of peace and national reconciliation in Angola.

This moment, perhaps, would have been an excellent opportunity for Angolans, the United Nations, Africa and the international community in general to rejoice in celebration at the end of another peace mission — provided that it had been successful.

Unfortunately, however, that is not our experience today as the Security Council proceeds to vote on a draft resolution terminating the United Nations Observer Mission in Angola (MONUA), because Mr. Jonas Savimbi has once again dashed our best hopes for peace, which have grown over the past three years and since 1994, when the Lusaka Protocol was signed. We should underscore here that Mr. Savimbi, with this new act of betrayal of the peace efforts developed by the Angolan Government and the international community, must never again be counted upon to assist in resolving the Angolan conflict, because his personal agenda is incompatible with any understanding that may be reached concerning the termination of the conflict in Angola.

Mr. Savimbi is trying to seize power at all costs. Since he was unable to do so through the 1992 elections, he will pursue his relentless campaign to seize power through the force of arms so long as he can count on support and matériel from certain quarters in continuing to wage war in Angola.

The Angolan Government believes that if there were greater commitment on the part of the international community and a more exacting mechanism for monitoring compliance with the United Nations sanctions, Mr. Savimbi and his armed group would soon be neutralized militarily and that conditions would then be conducive to the reestablishment of peace in Angola.

This will become feasible only if we all act in common cause towards the same objectives, which are essentially to help Angola put a definitive end to the state of war that has been the scourge of our country for the past 30 years. This is a deep-felt conviction of the Angolan Government. We do not believe in the good intentions of any country that acts in a manner other than that we have described, even if it does so under the pretext of helping Angola to become peaceful. Such so-called contributions are useful only if made in close coordination with the Angolan Government. In this connection, we would like to direct an appeal to the countries neighbouring Angola to break off all contacts with Mr. Savimbi and to suspend all logistical support that enables him to wage war in Angola.

Concerning Zambia, the Angolan Government firmly believes that the current diplomatic démarches will prompt Zambian authorities to become ever more vigilant in preventing Zambian territory from continuing to be used as a point of trans-shipment for the military and logistical matériel that Mr. Savimbi needs for his military campaign. We firmly believe that as a result of a new cooperation framework between the Angolan Government and the United Nations, new and more stringent measures will be taken to isolate and neutralize Mr. Savimbi.

We hope that telecommunications sanctions will be adopted by all Member States.

We would like to avail ourselves of this opportunity to praise the role played by the sanctions committee and the new and renewed impetus imparted to its activities. We encourage the committee to do its best so that all Member States will comply with the sanctions as imposed.

After deliberating here in New York with the members of the Security Council on a wide range of concepts on the follow-up configuration of the United Nations representation in Angola, we are now ready to submit to our central Government those proposals that in our view are best suited to the model that the Angolan authorities would like to see in place in our country. Within a few days we will convey our position to the Security Council.

In closing, I would like to express on behalf of the Angolan people our deep appreciation to the United Nations for the efforts developed by United Nations Angola Verification Missions I, II and III and by the United Nations Observer Mission in Angola. We would also like to pay deeply felt tribute to all United Nations personnel who sacrificed their own lives for the cause of peace in Angola. Although the results have fallen short of an unqualified success, many positive aspects were seen, and for that we sincerely thank you.

The President

The next speaker inscribed on my list is the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Zambia, The Honourable Keli S. Walubita, on whom I now call.

Mr. Walubita (Zambia)

Allow me, first of all, to deliver to you, Sir, to the Secretary-General, and to all the members of the Security Council, warm and fraternal greetings from President Chiluba and the people of Zambia.

Let me begin by thanking you and all the other members of the Security Council for allowing my delegation to address this body today. The purpose of my address today is to put on record the concerns of my Government about allegations that have been made by the Government of Angola that Zambia is providing logistical and military support to UNITA in order to perpetuate the war and the suffering of the Angolan people. To this effect, the Government of Angola has issued threats to wage war against Zambia and other alleged supporters of UNITA.

It is a matter of public knowledge that Zambia has played a pivotal role in the liberation struggle of southern Africa, as well as in the search for the peaceful resolution of conflicts in the region. Given the fact that Zambia was among the earliest countries to gain independence in the region, we provided sanctuary to virtually all the liberation movements that were fighting for the independence of their respective countries. These include both the MPLA, which constitutes the current Government of Angola, and UNITA, which is presently fighting against the Government.

We took this decision fully aware of the consequences entailed by such a heavy responsibility. Indeed, the cost of this undertaking in human and economic terms has been enormous to my country. Many of our nationals lost their lives and our economic infrastructure, such as roads and bridges, were destroyed by hostile colonial and minority regimes that surrounded us.

In spite of these threats to our young independence and sovereignty, Zambia steadfastly continued to provide sanctuary to liberation movements because of our strong conviction that our own peace and security could not be guaranteed so long as the neighbouring countries remained under colonial and minority rule.

It is in this spirit that Zambia, together with the international community, invested 14 months of its time, energy and resources to facilitate the negotiations between the MPLA and UNITA that culminated in the signing of the historic Lusaka Protocol on 20 November 1994.

I have given this historical background to demonstrate that Zambia has always been an ardent advocate of peace. It is therefore most unfortunate that Zambia stands accused today by the sister Republic of Angola of undermining the peace and stability that the international community through the United Nations and, indeed, the Angolan parties themselves, worked so hard to achieve.

My country finds it curious that these allegations are being repeated even today, in spite of the fact that most of them have already been jointly investigated with Angola. In addition, the United Nations Security Council sent Ambassador Mahugu of Kenya, the then Chairman of the committee on Sanctions against UNITA, to investigate the allegations, while the Organization of African Unity sent Ambassador Daniel Antonio, the Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, on a similar mission. All the above investigations cleared Zambia. However, because of the persistent accusations by the Government of Angola, Zambia has extended an invitation to the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, to once again send a mission to Zambia to investigate the allegations.

It is a matter for regret that the Angolan peace process, as embodied in the Lusaka Protocol, has collapsed, owing to UNITA’s failure to comply fully with the provisions of the Protocol. The conduct of UNITA in this regard is totally unacceptable, and has been condemned by Zambia. The collapse of the peace process is all the more lamentable in view of the fact that two thirds of the Protocol has been implemented. It is our view that, notwithstanding the current obstacles, the Lusaka Protocol still remains the best framework for a peaceful settlement of the Angolan conflict.

With the amount of time, energy and resources already invested, and with the progress made so far, it would be a great tragedy for the international community to abandon the Lusaka Protocol. Therefore, as the Council considers the winding down of the United Nations Observer Mission in Angola, every effort should be made to ensure that a vacuum is not created which could lead to the worsening of the security situation in the southern African subregion. Such a situation would have an adverse impact on the security of my country. In fact, since the resumption of hostilities in Angola, there has been an increase in the flow into Zambia of illegal military weapons, which are being used for criminal activities. In addition, there has been an increase in the influx of refugees from Angola to Zambia.

The Government of Zambia is also concerned that these serious allegations by Angola are being made at a time when our mediation efforts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have reached an advanced stage. The allegations, therefore, are likely to undermine Zambia’s mediation of the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

I wish to conclude my statement by assuring members of the Council that, notwithstanding the allegations by Angola, the Government of Zambia is fully complying with Security Council sanctions against UNITA. I also wish to reaffirm my country’s unwavering commitment to peace and stability in the entire southern African region.

Zambia and Angola are sister countries, and we will endeavour to resolve our differences through bilateral means.

The President

I thank the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Zambia for the kind words he addressed to me.

It is my understanding that the Security Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution (S/1999/203) before it. If I hear no objection, I shall now put the draft resolution to the vote.

There being no objection, it is so decided.

The President

There were 15 votes in favour. The draft resolution has been adopted unanimously as resolution 1229 (1999).

There are no further speakers on my list. The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on its agenda. The Security Council will remain seized of the matter.