{"id":644635,"date":"2019-05-29T16:58:20","date_gmt":"2019-05-29T16:58:20","guid":{"rendered":"
\"Jonas<\/div>

Angola\u2019s main opposition part"},"modified":"2019-05-29T16:58:20","modified_gmt":"2019-05-29T16:58:20","slug":"angola-ex-rebel-chief-jonas-savimbi-to-be-buried-on-saturday-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/05\/29\/angola-ex-rebel-chief-jonas-savimbi-to-be-buried-on-saturday-family\/","title":{"rendered":"Angola ex-rebel chief Jonas Savimbi to be buried on Saturday \u2013 family"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Jonas<\/div>\n

Angola\u2019s main opposition party, the former rebel movement Unita, said on Wednesday it planned to go ahead with a public funeral this weekend for its ex-leader Jonas Savimbi after a dispute with the government over the handling of his remains.<\/p>\n

Savimbi, a charismatic, controversial warlord who fought Angola\u2019s socialist government in a 27-year civil war, was killed in a battle against the People\u2019s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) government forces in February 2002.<\/p>\n

His death paved the way for a peace deal bringing an end to one of Africa\u2019s longest and bloodiest conflicts, which erupted after independence from Portugal in 1975.<\/p>\n

Unita had long called for the MPLA, which has governed Angola since independence, to allow his body to be exhumed and given a \u201cdignified\u201d burial.<\/p>\n

After a meeting on Wednesday between Savimbi\u2019s family and Unita, the party had \u201cdecided to maintain its programme\u201d for the burial on Saturday, Unita spokesperson Alcides Sakala Simoes told AFP.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are calling for calm,\u201d Simoes said, adding the burial would be an important moment to help in \u201cthe construction of a national reconciliation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Savimbi\u2019s son, Cheya Savimbi, confirmed the burial would take place on Saturday.<\/p>\n

After negotiations, the government had planned to hand over the remains of the former rebel chief on Tuesday to allow the body to be buried in his native village on Saturday.<\/p>\n

But the remains were not handed over, sparking accusations from both sides.<\/p>\n

The government said the family and Unita delegation did not show up as arranged in Luena in Moxico provInce. But the family delegation was waiting in Kuito, around 400km away where they said the meeting had been arranged.<\/p>\n

The government says the body was transported on Tuesday to Andulo, a village near where the Savimbi funeral was planned.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe left the body in the military barracks\u201d in Andulo, said Pedro Sebastiao, head of security for President Joao Lourenco, urging Unita to collect it as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

The family said the government had changed the programme but said they did not want any \u201cconflict\u201d over the burial.<\/p>\n

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