Angola says situation calls for outside aid

September 3, 1981

Angola announced that conditions had been created for it to call on its allies to help repel South Africa's invasion of its southern territory. The Angolan news agency Angop quoted a Cabinet statement as saying the US veto of a UN Security Council resolution condemning the invasion had created conditions for Angola to fall back on the provisions of Article 51 of the UN Charter. This guarantees the right of countries under armed attack to "individual or collective self-defense" until the Security Council has taken measures "to maintain international peace and security."

Angop's report did not specifically say Angola had yet asked for outside help in dealing with the nine-day-old South African incursion.