ANGOLA, June 27 - The Vice -President said on Wednesday in Bamako, Mali, that the Angolan people have "a great esteem" for Alioune Blondin Beye for his contribution to the achievement of peace in Angola.,

The Angolan official spoke on the occasion of the book entitled "Alioune Blondin Beye and peace in Angola - a long tumultuous river" by Kady Beye, the widow of the Malian politician.

The launching of the book, which depicts the achievements of the former special representative of the UN Secretary-General in Angola from 1993 to June 26, 1998, was attended by several individuals including the Speaker of the National Assembly of Mali, Isaac Sidibé, and the UN Deputy Representative in Mali, Baranga Gasarabwe.

Among the stories narrated in the 137-page book is the process of negotiations for peace in Angola, led by Alioune Blondin Beye, which culminated in the signing of the Lusaka Protocol between the Angolan Government and Unita on 20 November 1994, in Zambia.

Eugenio Ngolo Manuvakola - UNITA's signatory of the agreements reached under the observation of the troika composed of the United States of America, Portugal and Russia - said that Kady Beye wrote an irreplaceable story about the search for peace in Angola.

Citing a passage from the book, she said "A family was born in Lusaka (...)” adding that this came along through the participation of people of various nationalities.

In addressing the contents of the book, Kady Beye said that she has followed closely the footsteps of the late husband for the realization of peace in a country that suffered one of the most horrendous civil wars that Africa has ever known, which has killed more than one million Angolans.

Alioune Blondin Beye died on June 26, 1998, in a plane crash near Abidjan, Côte d'Ivore, during a tour of African countries in search of a solution to the conflict in Angola.

The Angolan conflict ended on April 4, 2002, after the death of Jonas Savimbi and the subsequent signing in Moxico of the Peace Memorandum, which complements the Lusaka agreements between the government and UNITA.

The Angolan vice-president returns to Luanda after being received in audience this afternoon by the President of Mali, Boubakar Keyta, with whom he has to address issues of interest to the two countries.

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