U.S. to call for Angolan peace

Savimbi led UNITA for more than 30 years

LUANDA, Angola (Reuters) -- U.S. President George W. Bush will push Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos to seek an immediate peace with the rebel UNITA movement following the death of its leader Jonas Savimbi, diplomats have said.

Bush will urge dos Santos to put a cease-fire in place and invite UNITA rebels to talks to end Angola's 26-year-old civil war when the two leaders meet in Washington on Tuesday, Western diplomats in the Angolan capital Luanda said.

"What happens with President Bush could make a hell of a lot of difference for Angola," one diplomat told Reuters.

Other diplomats said the United States was pleased with the Angolan leader's call for a truce but that Bush would like dos Santos to come up with a programme of action.

Savimbi's death is seen as potentially the best opportunity for peace in years in a country dominated by conflict since independence from Portugal in 1975.

Dos Santos told reporters in Lisbon on Monday he wanted "to take rapid steps for a normalisation of politics in Angola, starting with a search for the paths that will lead us, with urgency, to a cease-fire."

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One diplomat said: "The Americans would like dos Santos to abide by what he is saying. They would like him to put a cease-fire into place, allow UNITA to get a new leader to allow the weakened group to come back to the negotiation table."

The United States said on Monday the death of Savimbi, its former Cold War protege, showed the need for peace in Angola.

"We call upon both sides, in conjunction with the peaceful opposition, civil sectors and international community, to fulfil their obligation to bring peace to the Angolan people," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told a daily briefing.

The United States, along with the former apartheid South Africa, supported Savimbi in the 1970s and 1980s.

The ruling MPLA party said Savimbi's death would open the way to restoring the country to normality.

"The MPLA and the government will immediately begin to restore communications with a view to making it possible for all displaced people to return to their place of origin," Norberto dos Santos said in the first MPLA statement on Savimbi's death.

Four million of Angola's 11 million people have been displaced by decades of war.

"After the phase of national reconciliation, Angola can then move to elections, but the conditions for elections have not yet been met.

"These include preparing an electoral register and securing security and free movement for all Angolans," he said.

Savimbi, 67, was confirmed dead by his National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) movement late on Saturday after state television showed his bullet-riddled body.

He had been shot dead by government troops.

The diplomats said Bush would caution dos Santos that seeking all-out victory against UNITA would only prolong the war.

"The message from the Americans would be that it could be a big mistake for Angola to go for a final kill of UNITA," one said.

They added UNITA Vice-President Antonio Dembo was widely expected to succeed Savimbi in an acting capacity until UNITA hold a congress within 60 days, as mandated by its constitution.

They said Dembo, a commander who had fought alongside Savimbi since 1975, was a moderate who could steer towards a cease-fire and transform UNITA into a formidable political party.

Insiders have said there are five main contenders: Dembo; ex-chief negotiator Isaias Samakuva; member of parliament Abel Chivukuvuku; foreign secretary Alcides Sakala and secretary-general Paulo Lukamba Gato.