OUTBREAK OF PEACE ANGOLAS SITUATION OF CONFUSION

THE ANGOLAN STORY IS ONLY ANOTHER IN THE FANTASTIC WEB OF INDULGENCE, MISERY, ABSURDITY AND SUFFERING BEYOND EXPRESSION THAT IS BRED IN PEACE NO LESS THAN WAR IN 'SITUATIONS' THE WORLD OVER. THE STORY TOLD IN THIS TITLE INVOLVES AN UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT IS PARTICULAR TO ANGOLA, BUT IT GOES FAR BEYOND THAT. IT IS A STORY OF THE EXTREMES OF THE HUMAN CONDITION AND, AS SUCH, ITS RELEVANCE IS TIMELESS. COMBINING REPORTAGE AND ANALYSIS, JUSTIN PEARCE SHOWS THE HUMAN FACE OF ANGOLA AT A CRITICAL JUNCTURE IN ITS HISTORY. JONAS SAVIMBI, LEADER OF THE REBEL MOVEMENT UNITA, WAS KILLED IN FEBRUARY 2002. CRIPPLED BY THE LARGE IMBALANCE BETWEEN ITS RESOURCES AND THOSE OF THE MPLA GOVERNMENT AND THE DEATH OF ITS MESSIANIC LEADER, A CULT FIGURE WHO HAS BEEN DESCRIBED AS OF MAO-TSE-TUNG PROPORTIONS, UNITA COLLAPSED, GIVING ANGOLA ITS FIRST EXTENDED PERIOD OF PEACE SINCE THE NATIONALIST UPRISING AGAINST PORTUGUESE RULE IN THE 1960S. WORKING AS THE BBC CORRESPONDENT BASED IN LUANDA, JUSTIN PEARCE WAS TH