Speaking to the IRIN agency, Father Daniel Ntoni-Nzinga, executive secretary of the Inter-Ecclesial Commission for Peace in Angola, which is spearheading the peace initiative, said that the war might end this year.
In an open letter addressed last month to the Church, Jonas Savimbi, leader of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), requested the Church´s intervention in mediating between his guerrilla movement and the governing Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA).
At the same time, President Jose Eduardo dos Santos changed his hard line, and announced that he would like to talk with Savimbi if UNITA lays down its arms and honors the 1994 peace agreement.
