Angolan leaders ‘purged’

Press, 24 May 1977, Page 9

Angolan leaders ‘purged’

NZPA-Reuter Belgrade > Two apparently pro-Soviet; Angolan leaders were purged ! on Saturday night because of attempts to split the country and attacks on President Neto, the Yugoslav official news agency Tanjug' has reported from Luanda,' according to Agence FrancePresse. I The report said that the central committee of the rul-' ing People’s Movement for Liberation of Angola after a two-day session announced 1 the expulsion of the former! Minister of Administration Mr Nito Alves, and one of the political commissars of the Angolan Army, Mr Jose van Dunem. The report said that they had been expelled because they had formed a faction i with the aim of splitting the iM.P.L.A., had spread wrong ideas, and had criticised members of the polit-i buro and organs of the! State. The report described the purge as one of the most' significant events since the liberation of Angola, and a ! turning point for the M.P.L.A. | According to the report, ;Mr Neto, who also is president of M.P.L.A., said in a speech that the purge has been undertaken to “stop the division.” Quoting Luanda observers, the report said that Mr Neto in his speech opposed the idea that ±e young Angolan workers’ class, which represents only a few per cent of the population should be the exclusive leader of the country.