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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release December 15, 1997

                  TEXT OF A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT 
             TO THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
                    AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE

December 12, 1997

Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:)

Pursuant to section 204(b) of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, 50 U.S.C. 1703(b), I hereby report to the Congress that I have exercised my statutory authority to take additional steps with respect to the actions and policies of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and the national emergency declared in Executive Order 12865.

The circumstances that led to the declaration on September 26, 1993, of a national emergency have not been resolved. The actions and policies of UNITA pose a continuing unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the United States. United Nations Security Council Resolution 864 (1993) imposed prohibitions against the sale of weapons, military materiel, and petroleum products to UNITA. United Nations Security Council Resolution 1127 of August 28, 1997, and 1130 of September 29, 1997, determined that all Member States shall impose additional sanctions against UNITA due to the serious difficulties in the Angolan peace process resulting from delays by UNITA in the implementation of its essential obligations as established by the Lusaka Peace Protocol of November 20, 1994.

Accordingly, and pursuant to the requirements of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1127, I have issued an Executive order which: (1) orders the closure of all UNITA offices in the United States, and (2) prohibits: (a) the sale or supply in any form, by United States persons or from the United States or using U.S. registered aircraft, of any aircraft or aircraft components to UNITA, or to any location within Angola other than those specified by the Secretary of the Treasury in consultation with the Secretary of State; (b) the insurance, engineering or servicing by United States persons or from the United States of any aircraft owned or controlled by UNITA; (c) the granting of permission to any aircraft to take off from, land in, or overfly the United States if it is destined to land in or has taken off from any location in Angola not specified by the Secretary of the Treasury in consultation with the Secretary of State; and (d) the provision by United States persons or from the United States of engineering and maintenance servicing, the certification of airworthiness, the payment of new claims against existing insurance contracts, or the provision or renewal of insurance to any aircraft registered in Angola not specified by the Secretary of the Treasury in consultation with the Secretary of State or to any aircraft that entered Angola through any location not specified by the Secretary of the Treasury in consultation with the Secretary of State.

In furtherance of the goals of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1127 and of the foreign policy interests of the United States, the authorization of exemptions for flights responding to medical emergencies or for essential humanitarian and peace process mediation needs is implicit in this order.

Under the terms of this order, UNITA includes: (1) the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola; (2) the Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FALA); and (3) any person acting or purporting to act for or on behalf of the foregoing, including the Center for Democracy in Angola (CEDA).

The United Nations Security Council acted to impose these additional sanctions in response to the actions and policies of UNITA in failing to comply with its obligations under the Lusaka Peace Protocol and thereby jeopardizing the return of peace to Angola. The United Nations Security Council resolutions demand UNITA's compliance with those obligations, including demilitarization of all its forces, transformation of its radio station into a nonpartisan broadcasting facility, and full cooperation in the process of normalization of government authority throughout Angola.

The above measures will immediately demonstrate to UNITA the seriousness of our concern over its delays to the peace process. It is particularly important for the United States and the international community to demonstrate to UNITA the necessity of completing the peace process in Angola. The flight restrictions will further limit UNITA's capacity to import weapons and military materiel in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 864 (1993).

When UNITA fully complies with its obligations and completes its transition from armed movement to unarmed political party, the United States will support measures lifting these sanctions.

Sincerely,

WILLIAM J. CLINTON

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