Angola missionaries set free

EIGHT MISSIONARIES who were kidnapped by Unita guerrillas in Angola last December have been released following negotiations conducted by the International Red Cross.
The eight had been taken from their mission in Cacolo, Angola, by members of the group which has been fighting the marxist government in the country since it reached independence in 1975.
The news was overshadowed last week by the dramatic announcement of the release of 17 British hostages kidnapped by Unita in February. The announcement came after a British Government official had flown to the Unita "provisional capital" of Jamba, in the southern part of Angola, too meet the guerrilla's leader, Dr Jonas Savimbi.
The missionaries released included five nuns from the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, who have 9,000 members worldwide, of whom 45 are still in Angola. The other three were men from the Divine Word missionaries.
The five nuns were back at their mother house in Rome this week, from where it was
reported that they had been treated "very humanely" by their captors. _ Sr Alma Dufault, the superior general of the order, said that they all hoped to return to Angola but it was difficult to say at this stage what would be possible.
Sr Dufault said that the order had been at Cacolo since before the present regime in Angola took power. They had been aware of the dangers, but had stayed because of their commitment to the poor of the area.