1 Angola's rebel leader on Wednesday gave a qualified endorsement to a peace accord between the government and his UNITA movement. He denied being 'humiliated' by recent military defeats.
2 In a rare interview at his headquarters in the refugee-crammed, bombed-out town of Bailundo, where his guerrilla army retreated in November, Jonas Savimbi said he wants peace.
3 And, he said, he would acknowledge the government of President Jose Eduardo dos Santos -- under conditions of mutual respect.
4 The agreement, signed Nov. 20 in Lusaka, Zambia, culminated a year of U.N.-brokered negotiations. Savimbi didn't appear for the signing ceremony, implying he did not fully support it.
5 Throughout the 40-minute interview, Savimbi seemed to hedge about the peace accord, suggesting it would be hard for him to persuade UNITA's followers to accept it.
6 The U.N. Security Council voted Wednesday night on sending 7,000 peacekeepers to Angola to deter a resumption of the 19-year civil war that killed more than 500,000 people.
7 Savimbi said he had no message for the Security Council, but he indicated annoyance that the United Nations did not consult him about the makeup of the proposed force.
8 'We can do nothing to help or to deter the decision of the Security Council,' he said. 'They will decide what they want to do.'
9 He said he was neutral about the Lusaka Accord, which provides for disengagement of the two sides and incorporation of UNITA's army into Angola's armed forces. Success depends on how well it is implemented, he said.
10 'In my own vision, the Lusaka protocol is not a bad thing,' Savimbi said. 'We have to work with the mediation, with observers, to make it work.'
11 The last two peace agreements 'flopped' and he could not be sure of this one either, he said. 'This is why I am cautious, but I am prepared to endorse it.'
12 The interview came as UNITA held its first congress in five years in Bailundo, a small, war-ravaged town coping with an influx of soldiers and civilians who fled with UNITA from Huambo, Angola's second-largest city.
13 War reignited in Angola in late 1992 after UNITA lost the first round of national elections brought about and supervised by the United Nations.
14 The U.N. said the vote was free and fair, but Savimbi said it was riddled with fraud. The two sides dispute who started the hostilities again, but the international community largely blamed UNITA.
15 UNITA quickly seized two-thirds of the country's territory, then gradually lost it to government troops assisted by South African mercenaries.
16 Savimbi said the mercenaries' assistance meant he felt no humiliation when the government retook control of Huambo, which UNITA won after a 1993 siege, because it had the South African help.
17 The town where Savimbi is staying has no electricity or running water, and his troops appear to be surviving on meager food.
18 United Nations military observers are in the town, linked to the outside world by satellite telephones and occasional landings of U.N. aircraft and convoys from Huambo.

Throughout the 40 - minute interview , Savimbi seemed to hedge about the peace accord , suggesting it would be hard for him to persuade UNITA ' s followers to accept it .
hedge
In what behaviors did Savimbi engage that would indicate he was hedging about the peace accord?