News In Brief

S. Africa expected to pull out of Angola by Dec. 25

South African troops are expected to withdraw from southern Angola by Dec. 25 as part of a US-negotiated peace settlement, the Portuguese weekly newspaper Expresso said Saturday. It quoted unidentified Western diplomatic sources as saying the estimated 25,000 Cuban troops supporting the Marxist Angolan government would pull back to the capital of Luanda following the South African withdrawal. The newspaper said the Cubans would then make a phased withdrawal from Angola simultaneously with a South African troop pullout from neighboring Namibia (South-West Africa).

There was no independent confirmation of the Expresso report. US diplomats have been trying to bring South Africa and Angola to agreement on an independent settlement for Namibia.