Media reports indicate that N'ziata Tiago is the leader of the Front for the Liberation of the Cabinda Enclave-Cabinda Armed Forces (FLEC-FAC) (RDP Antenna 1 Radio 2 June 2000; AP 16 Aug. 1999; ibid., 1 June 2000; Diario de Noticais 22 Mar. 1999). According to a 1 June 2000 AP report, he "lives in exile in Paris."

In June 2000, FLEC-FAC reportedly kidnapped three Portuguese nationals and an Angolan in Cabinda, a town 38 kilometres north of the Cabinda region. FLEC-FAC did not demand any ransom but Nziata Tiago allegedly agreed to release the men on condition that the Portuguese government make a gesture favourable to FLEC or a gesture that recognizes the problem of Cabinda (RDP Antenna 1 Radio 2 June 2000; AP 1 June 2000). FLEC-FAC is reportedly one of most radical FLEC separatist groups fighting for the separation of Cabinda from the rest of Angola (AFP 13 Sept. 2000). Nonetheless, eight of its leaders including the "commander of the troops," the chief of the security service, and the commander in charge of operations reportedly turned themselves into the Angolan army stationed in the province of Cabinda (ibid.).

FLEC has been fighting for the secession of Cabinda for the last 20 years. "The enclave is an impoverished but resource-rich 7,000-square-kilometer (4,400-square-mile) patch wedged between Congo and the Republic of Congo" (AP 16 Aug. 1999), but it is divided into two factions: FLEC-FAC and FLEC-R (Renovated)(PANA News 15 Mar. 2000). Some members of FLEC-R reportedly live as refugees in the Congo Brazzaville and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (RDC), where FLEC-R's general secretary Macario Romao Lembe, was abducted in Kinshasa in March 2000 (ibid.).

In 2000, President Jose Eduardo dos Santos announced an amnesty for UNITA rebels and other armed groups including common law criminals (AFP 28 Dec. 2000; ibid., 27 Dec. 2000). The leader of FLEC-R in Cabinda, Jose Bumba, and 10 of his guerrillas reportedly took advantage of the amnesty and turned themselves in to the local authorities (ibid.). For additional information on FLEC and its factions, please consult AGO33474.E of 25 January 2000, and AGO30516.E of 19 November 1998.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Agence France Presse (AFP). 28 December 2000. "Angolan Army Claims 30 UNITA Rebels Killed." (NEXIS)

_____. 27 December 2000. "A Cabinda Separatist Chief Takes Up Angolan Amnesty Officer." (NEXIS)

_____. 13 September 2000. "Huit responsables du FLEC se sont rendus au gouvernement central." (NEXIS)

Associated Press (AP). "UNITA Says Opposition Met to Discuss Future Without Dos Santos." (NEXIS)

_____. 1 June 2000. "Cristiana Pereira. "Angolan Separatists Acknowledge Kidnapping Three Portuguese, One Angolan." (NEXIS)

Diario de Noticias [Lisbon in Portuguese]. 22 March 1999. "Angola: UNITA "Preparing Major Offensive" Against Us Oil Companies in Cabinda." (BBC Summary 22 Mar. 1999/NEXIS)

Panafrica News (PANA). "Congo Kinshasa: Rightists Protest Abduction of Cabinda Official." (NEXIS)

RDC Antena 1 Radio [Lisbon in Portuguese]. "Angola: Cabinda Separatists May Free Hostages if Portugal Recognizes Conflict." (BBC Summary 2 June. 2000/NEXIS)

Additional Sources Consulted

Africa Research Bulletin.

Amnesty International Report 1999.

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999. 2000. United States Department of State. Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office.

Human Rights Watch/Africa.

Human Rights Watch World Report 1999.

Keesing's Record of World Events.

LEXIS/NEXIS

Resource Centre. Country File. Angola.

Search engines including:

Lycos

Google

Mamma

Internet sites including:

All Africa