Peace process running without setbacks in Angola's Cabinda: official

The chairman of the Cabinda Forum for Dialogue (FCD), Antonio Bento Bembe, has considered as positive his meetings with members of municipalities of Cabinda, the Angolan oil- rich province, on the Memorandum of Understanding for Peace in the region.

Speaking at the end of his visit to Dinge Commune in Cabinda, Bembe said that the process is running without any problems, Angola News Agency ANGOP reported on Friday.

"I believe that this process came in the right moment, because the populations of the province have manifested a deep and positive welcome," Bembe said.

He assured that the implementation of the second phase of the peace process will begin soon since by then the selection of the military staff from the former rebel forces, who will join the national army, will be concluded.

The Angolan government and FCD signed the memorandum of understanding for peace on August 1, in Angola's southern Province of Namibe.

Cabinda, which produces 60 percent of Angola's oil, is a sliver of land sandwiched between the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

An armed conflict for secession led by the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC) has occurred there since Angola's independence in 1975.

In 2004, FLEC, the Church and other organizations set up the FCD to dialogue with the Angolan central government for peace in Cabinda.

Source: Xinhua