Home | China | World | Business U.N. Ready to Aid Angola in Peace Efforts, Annan Says SUN, FEB 24, 2002     U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Saturday that the death of Angolan rebel leader Jonas Savimbi has opened a new opportunity for the Angolan peace process, and that the U.N. is ready to help the Angolan government and its people in their efforts to promote the peace process. Annan has received a letter from the Angolan government which notified the U.N. chief that Savimbi, leader of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) guerrillas, was killed in a battle with government troops on Friday, an official from the U.N. Spokesman's Office said on the phone. In the letter, the Angolan government said it will fully comply with the Lusaka peace agreement, which was designed to end the lengthy conflict in the oil-rich African country, the official said. Savimbi walked away from three peace accords in the 1990s and he was blamed by the U.N. Security Council as a major block in the peace process. Around 500,000 people are believed to have died in the civil war, which drove about 4 million people, a third of the population,from their homes. Editor:Guan Source:Xinhua Recommend to your friend email:    China Central Television,All Rights Reserved