Dos Santos' government and Savimbi's UNITA guerrillas both share responsibility for the bloodshed. Savimbi resumed the fighting after refusing to accept his party's defeat in an election deemed substantially "free and fair" by U.N. and international observers.

Before the September elections, the United States had promised to recognize any government that came to power in free, fair elections. Dos Santos' party, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), won a decisive victory in the parliamentary elections. And although Dos Santos led Savimbi in the presidential race, the president fell just short of the more than 50% vote he needed to win outright.

As it became clear that UNITA was going down to defeat, Savimbi charged widespread fraud and intimidation. International observers and Angolan election officials investigated Savimbi's charges but found little evidence of vote-rigging. Now, Savimbi's credibility inside the country, except among die-hard UNITA supporters, has suffered a blow.