Cabinda separatists claim 'independence' from Angola

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LUANDA — A separatist group behind a decades-long, low-level insurgency in Angola's oil-rich Cabinda exclave declared on Monday the territory's "independence" from Angola.

The coastal province, sandwiched between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Congo-Brazzaville and separated from the rest of Angola by a narrow strip of land, produces three-fifths of Angola's oil.

It has seen sporadic attacks by separatists since it was officially integrated into Angola in 1975, when the southern African country became independent from Portugal in 1975.

At a press conference in Brussels, the leadership of the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC) showed a video of secretary-general Jacinto Antonio Telica declaring the territory's "independence".

They said the video -- which showed Telica speaking in a clearing surrounded by men in military uniform, after the FLEC flag was hoisted, was filmed earlier on Monday in Cabinda.

"In the name of the people of Cabinda and in the full exercise of their right to self-determination, we solemnly declare that Cabinda is and shall henceforth be a sovereign and independent state," Telica said.

He said the movement would appoint a "parliament" tasked with drafting a constitution and naming a "provisional executive responsible for the institutional organisation of the state, the management of the political transition and the representation of the Republic of Cabinda in the international community".

There was no immediate reaction from the Angolan government.

In Brussels, the FLEC's representative in charge of international relations, Andre Quinta, said the group would not abandon its armed struggle until Cabina was truly independent.

"As long as Cabinda is not free, all options will continue to be used, whether that is diplomacy, legal action or military action," Quinta said.

The decades-long separatist struggle has been fuelled by anger at the huge profits the Angolan government makes from Cabinda's oil reserves.

The government in Luanda has been accused of a crackdown that includes arresting independence activists.

Police arrested five protesters at a rally in Cabinda on Sunday to mark the 141st anniversary of the Treaty of Simulambuco that brought Cabinda under Portuguese rule in 1885.