Angolan troops have routed rebels loyal to Jonas Savimbi from the country's lucrative diamond areas, a senior official with the foreign ministry has said.
The Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) have successfully driven the rebel National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) out of former strongholds in central Angola, and has more recently launched offensives on rebel positions in southern and eastern diamond-rich regions.
"The FAA have totally expelled UNITA rebels from diamond zones. The rebels have now lost their capacity to control and exploit areas rich in precious gems," the official said late Monday.
In a statement sent to AFP, the foreign ministry said the government had taken measures to halt diamond trafficking, the rebels' source of war funding.
Luanda has recently called on black market diamond traders and miners to stop fuelling the rebellion, and legalise their activities.
In January, the government suspended contracts with a number of private firms, and gave sole purchase and export rights to the Angola Selling Corporation, a group comprising the Angolan company SODIAM, the Israeli firm WELLOX, and the Belgian-Swiss interest TAIS.
Diamond production shot up 26 percent last year compared to 1998, after the government won control of the Lunda region. In 1999, Angola produced 2.2 million carats in government-held regions -- LUANDA (AFP)
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