Angolan paramilitary to help Mugabe

HARARE, Zimbabwe, March 22 (UPI) -- Angola plans to send 2,500 paramilitary police to Zimbabwe to assist President Robert Mugabe's security forces.

Kembo Mohadi, the home affairs minister in Zimbabwe, told The Times of London the first 1,000 are scheduled to arrive April 1, with the rest to come in three contingents of 500 officers. He said he signed an agreement last week with Gen. Roberto Monteiro, the Angolan interior minister.

Unrest has been growing in Zimbabwe, which suffers from runaway inflation and a devastated economy. Recent clashes in the townships of Harare have left one man dead and hundreds hurt.

The Angolan paramilitaries are the guard of President Jose Eduardo dos Santos. They are nicknamed "Ninjas" because of their all-black uniforms.

"Angolans are terrified of them," an Angolan resident told The Times.