ANGOLA: Protest over government corruption

JOHANNESBURG, 2 March (IRIN) - An Angolan opposition party on Tuesday said a demonstration to protest alleged government corruption went ahead "successfully" despite police "intimidation".

According to the protest organisers, police had allegedly harassed protesters outside the United States embassy in the capital, Luanda, the venue of the protest.

"We were quite pleased as about 1,000 people attended the demonstration, and although the police had intimidated them, they remained firm," Carlos Leitao, president of the Angolan Party for Democratic Progress (PADEPA) told IRIN.

Leitao said PADEPA had handed over a letter addressed to US President George W. Bush to the American ambassador in Luanda, urging Washington to bring pressure to bear on the authorities to "become more transparent".

Demonstrators called for President Eduardo Dos Santos to investigate allegations raised by Human Rights Watch in January that US $4 billion in state oil revenue had disappeared from government coffers from 1997 to 2002.

Last month police thwarted plans by the small opposition party to stage a protest in one of Luanda's main squares because, the authorities reportedly said at the time, PADEPA had not obtained the required permission from the provincial government to hold the demonstration.

[ENDS]

IRIN-SA
Tel: +27 11 880-4633
Fax: +27 11 447-5472
Email: [email protected]

[This Item is Delivered to the "Africa-English" Service of the UN's IRIN
humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views
of the United Nations. For further information, free subscriptions, or
to change your keywords, contact e-mail: [email protected] or Web:
http://www.irinnews.org . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post
this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Reposting by commercial
sites requires written IRIN permission.]

Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2004