Talks concerning the oil-rich Cabinda enclave are expected to end in a resolution soon, despite continuing attacks, said the army chief of staff on Monday.

"The government has opened a dialogue and, in the near future, the problem will be resolved," said General Agostinho Nelumba, known as Sanjar. He declined to give details about the peace talks, with the Front for the Liberation of Cabinda Enclave (FLEC), set up in September 2004.

Angolan troops have been fighting separatists in Cabinda, which produces about 60% of the country's oil, since 1975. The enclave - home to about 300 000 people and which stretches along the Atlantic coast and is divided from Angola by a strip of land from the Democratic Republic of Congo - was annexed by Angolan troops in 1975, at the end of Portuguese colonial rule.

Cabindans are seeking to negotiate a deal that would give them a greater share of the oil revenues from their region, where poverty and unemployment are rife. Sub-Saharan Africa's second-largest oil producer after Nigeria, Angola is emerging from a 27-year war which ended in 2002, claiming 500 000 lives and devastating the economy.

Extract from: News24.com

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