In Angola, there are signs that the opposition UNITA leader, Jonas Savimbi, is prepared to move towards a final peace settlement with President Dos Santos.

Mr Savimbi has proposed in a letter that the terms of their 1994 peace accord be completed by the end of February.

Mr Savimbi has offered to go to Luanda for a meeting with President dos Santos.

Until now, Mr Savimbi had always refused to go to the capital on security grounds - previous meetings with Mr Dos Santos have been held outside Angola.

Under the 1994 accord, UNITA agreed to disarm and disband as a militia force but has not yet done so.

Correspondents say Mr Savimbi's offer comes at a time when UNITA has been seriously weakened by the overthrow of sympathetic governments in Congo-Kinshasa and Congo-Brazzaville and the recent loss of diamond-mining areas which financed its operations.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
 

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