Angolan Rebel Vows to Attack U.S.-Run Firm : Savimbi, on Aid Tour, Calls Gulf Oil Facility Asset to Marxist Regime

WASHINGTON —  Angolan rebel leader Jonas Savimbi, visiting the United States to seek modern weapons for his guerrilla army, said Friday that he intends to attack an American-operated oil facility in his war against the Marxist government in Luanda.

“It is a target,” Savimbi said of the oil field. “Not the American people (working at the field)--they are not a target. The target is the oil.”

He refused to say exactly when he plans to hit the Cabinda oil facility, operated by the Gulf subsidiary of San Francisco-based Chevron Corp., saying that timing is a matter of tactics. Chevron, which acquired Gulf in 1984, owns 49% of the Angolan operation.

“The Cubans and the Russians, they are killing indigenous people of our country because they are getting money from Gulf,” Savimbi said. “So we must stop Gulf.”

Only one day earlier, the bearded leader of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) said after conferring with President Reagan at the White House that he had asked for U.S. military aid, especially anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, to combat the Luanda government and its Cuban and Soviet advisers.

$15 Million in Covert Aid

Even before Savimbi’s arrival on a 10-day, high-visibility trip, the Administration notified Congress that it intends to give him up to $15 million in covert CIA aid. Congressional sources said they believe that, before he returns home, Savimbi will discuss with Administration officials how that aid is to be delivered.

If Savimbi carries through with his threat to attack Cabinda, it will put the U.S. government in the anomalous position of supplying U.S. weapons to strike American-owned property and put U.S. citizens at risk.

The State Department reacted angrily last summer when a South African commando team mounted an unsuccessful attack on Cabinda. UNITA previously attacked the pipeline leading from Cabinda but did comparatively little damage. With sophisticated U.S. weapons, however, the organization could be more effective if it struck the facility again.

This week, Assistant Secretary of State Chester A. Crocker, the Administration’s top Africa specialist, warned that U.S. businesses operating in Angola “are in the middle of a war zone.” Crocker said the firms should “think about the U.S. national interest as well as their own corporate interest.” But he stopped short of urging the companies to pull out of Angola.

‘We Are Thinking’

Richard Lewis, a Chevron spokesman in Washington, said: “We have been aware that we are operating in a country (where) there is civil strife. . . . We realize that there are risks. We will abide by the dictates of the U.S. government, as we always have.”

When asked how Chevron could follow government dictates when the Administration was issuing veiled hints, rather than orders, Lewis said, “They are inviting us to think, and we are thinking.”

After meeting with Reagan, Secretary of State George P. Shultz, Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger and congressional leaders earlier in the week, Savimbi turned Friday to a public relations blitz. Following a schedule laid out by the politically well-connected public relations firm of Black, Manafort, Stone & Kelly, he addressed a National Press Club lunch, attended a breakfast for reporters sponsored by Foreign Policy magazine and met reporters individually and in small groups.

Savimbi, who described himself as a democratic socialist, draws most of his support in the United States from hard-line conservative groups that applaud his fight against the Marxist Angolan government. Much of his financial and materiel support comes from South Africa’s white minority government, although he says he also receives backing from several Arab and African countries.

Savimbi Aid Opposed

The Congressional Black Caucus, joined by some other liberal and civil rights groups, opposes U.S. support for UNITA, primarily because of the organization’s ties with South Africa.

A racially mixed group of about two dozen demonstrators protested Savimbi’s appearance at the National Press Club, chanting: “Freedom, yes; apartheid, no; Jonas Savimbi has got to go.”

Savimbi conceded that his South Africa connection is an embarrassment, but he said: “When you are fighting a war, you have to accept help from wherever it may come. We also have support from some African independent countries.”

Gesturing to some of the aides who accompanied him to the magazine-sponsored breakfast, he said: “All these gentlemen sitting here, they have diplomatic passports from several African countries.” He did not name the countries.

Warns About Soviets

Savimbi said he abhors the South African policy of apartheid but argued that it is equally important to oppose Soviet and Cuban influence in Angola. If first priority is given to opposing apartheid, he said, it might permit the Soviets to dominate all of southern Africa.

“Does South Africa have any possibility of expansion?” he asked. “On my own understanding, no. But the Soviet Union is the most important empire at this time in the world.

“If you say that you dismantle apartheid first and don’t do anything about the Russians, the Russians will not wait for you,” he said. “They will go all the way to the Cape,” a reference to the Cape of Good Hope, at the southern tip of Africa.

The Administration’s decision to give UNITA covert aid through the CIA is a controversial one. Savimbi’s conservative backers would prefer to assist him openly as a signal of U.S. resolve to oppose Soviet-backed governments throughout the Third World.

Liberal critics of Savimbi oppose any sort of aid, either covert or overt. Congress could block covert aid, but some opponents of Savimbi say that might be politically difficult to accomplish.