President feted

Press, 17 April 1982, Page 8

President feted

NZPA-Reuter Luanda, Angola Thousands of flag-waving Angolans gave President Antonio Ramalho Eanes of Portugal a tumultuous welcome yesterday when he became the first Portuguese head of State to visit Angola since its independence from Portugal in 1975.

Angolan Army fieldguns fired a 21-gun salute as General Eanes stepped on to the tarmac at Luanda Airport to be greeted by President Jose Eduardo dos Santos. African folklore groups in carnival gear performed an umbrella dance in the background. The Angolan Government gave the population of Luanda the afternoon off work in honour of the Portuguese President's visit and the national radio broadcast appeals for people to turn out in mass to welcome him. The Lisbon authorities studiously avoided sending any officials to the celebration of Angola's independence in November, 1975. It was proclaimed as the last Portuguese ■ troops withdrew from Luanda, abandoning the country to a civil war. Portugal was only the eighty-eighth country to recognise the independence of the richest of its former African colonies as a people's republic. But Angola’s importance to Portugal has steadily increased over the last few years and it is now the fourth largest market for Portuguese exports. Angola's only daily newspaper, the official “Jornal de Angola," published a frontpage editorial this week praising the contribution of General Eanes to the improvement of relations batween the countries.