S. African rebels armed by Soviets, paper says

December 7, 1981

The Soviet Union, disenchanted with the South-West Africa People's Organization, is arming the Botswana-based African National Congress in a bid to topple the South African government, the Philadelphia Bulletin reports.

Intelligence documents obtained by the newspaper reportedly show that South African officials believe the Soviets are shifting their military assistance from SWAPO to ANC. The paper says that according to the documents, the Soviet Union was disappointed with SWAPO's defeat last August at the hands of South African troops during a raid into southern Angola and is now supplying arms to Botswana, where ANC is based.

SWAPO aims to win control of Namibia, formerly South-West Africa, while ANC is committed to the takeover of South Africa, where ANC has been outlawed.