Angola is pulling out the stops to bury an arms case now before French
courts in which President Jose Eduardo dos Santos is suspected of
receiving millions in kickbacks, sources say.

A top Pentagon official for African affairs insisted Wednesday that no country on the continent had been asked to host the new US miltary command for Africa, as she began a three-day visit to Angola.

LUANDA, Oct 7, 2008 (AFP) - A floating city or a naval siege? The small bay of Angola's capital Luanda is illuminated at night by a long queue of ships waiting to offload the cargo that feeds Africa's fastest growing economy.

The son of late president Francois Mitterrand and other members of the
French elite went on trial Monday for illegal arms sales to Angola in
the 1990s.

PARIS, Oct 6, 2008 (AFP) - A president's son, a thriller writer and a former interior minister were among members of the French elite who went on trial Monday for illegal arms sales to Africa in a high-profile case dubbed 'Angolagate.'

Forty-two people including the son of late French president Francois
Mitterrand and dozens of businessman, politicians and public figures go
on trial Monday over a vast 'arms-to-Angola' scandal

PARIS, Oct 6, 2008 (AFP) - Angola sought Monday to stop a French trial into a vast arms trafficking scandal involving the son of late president Francois Mitterrand and other members of the French elite.

A lawyer representing the Luanda government said he would ask the court to throw out the case by invoking French confidentiality laws protecting military secrets of foreign countries.

PARIS, Oct 6, 2008 (AFP) - Angola sought Monday to stop a French trial into a vast arms trafficking scandal involving the son of late president Francois Mitterrand and other members of the French elite.

A lawyer representing the Luanda government said he would ask the court to throw out the case by invoking French confidentiality laws protecting military secrets of foreign countries.

PARIS, Oct 5, 2008 (AFP) - Forty-two people including the son of late French president Francois Mitterrand and dozens of businessman, politicians and public figures go on trial Monday over a vast 'arms-to-Angola' scandal.

LUANDA, Oct 4, 2008 (AFP) - Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos has pledged named development as a top priority for the oil-rich nation alongside double-digit growth and lowering inflation, state media reported Saturday.

LUANDA, Oct 4, 2008 (AFP) - African Confederation Cup Group A result Saturday:

InterClube (Angola) 2 (Abdel Traore 34 'Mingo' 78) Club Sportif Sfaxien (TUN, holders) 3 (Blaisse Kouassi 13, Abdelkrim Nafti 37, 'Dedas' 76-og)

Club Africain (TUN) v Harras al-Hodoud (EGY) 1710GMT

Standings (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, against, points)

LUANDA, Oct 4, 2008 (AFP) - Angola coach Oliveria Goncalves announced his resignation Saturday after successive poor showings in 2010 World Cup qualifiers.

'I presented my resignation letter on 22 September and the president (of Angolan football Association, FAF) accepted it,' he said, as quoted by Catholic Radio Ecclesia.

Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos on Wednesday unveiled his
cabinet and introduced a new economic ministry following last month's
landmark legislative poll, state media reported

LUANDA, Sept 30, 2008 (AFP) - Angola swore in its new parliament Tuesday with a new cabinet expected to be announced soon, following the first legislative elections in 16 years earlier this month.

LUANDA, Sept 29, 2008 (AFP) - Angola's main international airport was shuttered for most of the morning Monday, after a military cargo plane crashed upon take off, state media reported.

Angola's ruling party has named a new prime minister in the first step
of a government reshuffle after legislative elections earlier this month

LUANDA, Sept 26, 2008 (AFP) - The oil-rich African nation of Angola and China plan to start direct flights between their capitals next month, the state-run Jornal de Angola reported Friday.

Under the deal signed Thursday in Beijing, Angola's state-run TAAG airline and Chinese carriers will begin flying from Luanda to Beijing and the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, the paper said.

LUANDA, Sept 21, 2008 (AFP) - Result of an African Confederation Cup Group A fourth round match on Sunday:

InterClube (Angola) 1 Club Africain (TUN) 2

Club Sportif Sfaxien (TUN, holders) 1 (Issam Merdassi 26) Harras al-Hodoud (EGY) 0

Standings (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, against, points)

Africain 4 2 1 1 6 3 7

Sfaxien 4 2 1 1 6 4 7

LUANDA, Sept 21, 2008 (AFP) - Result of an African Confederation Cup Group A fourth round match on Sunday:

InterClube (Angola) 1 Club Africain (TUN) 2

Club Sportif Sfaxien (TUN, holders) 1 (Issam Merdassi 26) Harras al-Hodoud (EGY) 0

Standings (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, against, points)

Africain 4 2 1 1 6 3 7

Sfaxien 4 2 1 1 6 4 7

LUANDA, Sept 20, 2008 (AFP) - Angola?s main opposition UNITA has retained Isaias Samakuva as its leader despite the party's rout in the first peactime elections in the oil-rich southern African nation.

LUANDA, Sept 17, 2008 (AFP) - Angolan authorities have launched a court bid to ban a vocal rights group, claiming its statutes violate the country's laws, state media reported on Wednesday.

LUANDA, Sept 16, 2008 (AFP) - Angola's electoral commission late Tuesday reported the final results of this month's legislative elections, with the ruling MPLA party garnering 81.64 percent of the votes.

The Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), in power for the past 33 years, won 191 seats in the 220-seat legislature in the September 5 election, the commission said.

TUNIS, September 15, 2008 (AFP) - African Confederation Cup Group A third round result on Sunday:

Club Africain (TUN) 3 (Junior Osagie 16, Wassim Yahia 21-pen, Oussama Sallami 81) InterClube (Angola) 0

Harras al-Hodoud (EGY) 3 (Ahmed Eid 14, Ahmed Abdulghani 17, Abdulhamid Bassiouni 39) Club Sportif Sfaxien (TUN, holders) 1 (Blaise Kouassi 21)

LUANDA, September 12, 2008 (AFP) - Angola's opposition UNITA on Friday contested at the constitutional court landmark elections in the capital Luanda, where chaos resulted in a second day of voting last week.

The former rebel movement last week accepted the result of nationwide parliamentary elections, with the ruling MPLA guaranteed a large victory.

LUANDA, September 12, 2008 (AFP) - Five Angolan political parties face losing their official status after receiving less than 0.5 percent of the vote in last week's historic parliamentary elections, state media reported Friday.

LUANDA, September 10, 2008 (AFP) - Six years after the end of a devastating civil war, polls in oil-rich Angola have cemented peace, legitimising its democracy in what the country hopes will set an example to the rest of the continent, analysts said Wednesday.

LUANDA, September 10, 2008 (AFP) - Angola's electoral commission on Tuesday completed its count of normal votes cast in a historic poll making up 85 percent of ballots, confirming an overwhelming victory for the ruling MPLA.

The Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) maintained its unassailable lead with 81.76 percent.

LUANDA, September 9, 2008 (AFP) - Angola's former rebel movement and main opposition party UNITA was Tuesday facing up to a crushing electoral defeat in a landmark peacetime poll for the oil-rich African nation.

According to the last partial results with over 80 percent of the votes counted, the Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) has only 10.4 percent of the vote.

LUANDA, September 9, 2008 (AFP) - Angola's former rebel movement turned main opposition party UNITA may see its lawmakers dwindle from 70 to 10 after the country's first peacetime parliamentary poll, state media said Tuesday.

LUANDA, September 8, 2008 (AFP) - Angola's opposition party UNITA acknowledged defeat late Monday in last week's legislative election, Angolan state news agency Angop reported.

LUANDA, September 8, 2008 (AFP) - The Angolan electoral commission on Monday turned down a request made by the opposition party, UNITA, to contest Luanda elections in the country's landmark vote, a commission spokesman said.

LUANDA, September 8, 2008 (AFP) - Angola's ruling party savoured an overwhelming win in the country's first post-war election which international observers said was transparent while votes were still being counted Monday.

LUANDA, September 8, 2008 (AFP) - Angola's first post-war elections were transparent and voters could make their choices freely, European Union observers told a press conference on Monday.

'The elections were transparent (...) people voted freely and we have not seen any violence during the campaign,' EU observer mission chief Luisa Morgantini said.

LUANDA, September 8, 2008 (AFP) - Angola's ruling MPLA savoured Monday an overwhelming victory in the country's first peacetime election, even with a quarter of the votes still to be counted.

LUANDA, September 8, 2008 (AFP) - A European observer of Angola's elections said Monday that he had personally witnessed intimidation and misuse of government resources in Angola's first peacetime poll.

But African observers said the elections which handed victory to the ruling MPLA party of President Jose Eduardo dos Santos were free and fair.

LUANDA, September 7, 2008 (AFP) - Angola's ruling party looked set to extend its long grip on power on Sunday with an overwhelming victory after two thirds of the votes were counted in the oil-rich country's chaotic election.

COTONOU, September 7, 2008 (AFP) - Result of a 2010 World Cup-African Nations Cup Group 3 qualifying match on Sunday:

Benin 3 (Khaled Adenon 1, Razack Omotoyossi 51, 63) Angola 2 (Flavio Amado 12, Arsenio 'Love' Cabungula 78)

Niger v Uganda 1530GMT

Standings (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, against, points)

LUANDA, September 7, 2008 (AFP) - With more than half the votes counted Sunday in Angola's chaotic landmark election, the ruling party looked set to legitimise its long grip on power in the oil-rich nation with an overwhelming victory..