By Zoe Eisenstein
LUANDA, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Angola's plans to bring home some of nearly half a million refugees who fled decades of civil war stand a better chance of success than ill-fated previous attempts, a senior United Nations official said.
Angola and neighbouring countries are to sign an accord on Thursday to repatriate Angolan refugees following an April peace deal between the government and UNITA rebels.
Janvier de Riedmatten of U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said three previous repatriation programmes had failed.
"The last ones were tainted by a lot of suspicion between the various parties because the country was at war...This time, peace is here," de Riedmatten told Reuters late on Tuesday.
"Everyone agrees that repatriation is most preferable for the refugees and this view is shared by the refugees themselves," he said.
The new deal splits the responsibilities between Angola, Zambia, Namibia and the UNHCR to meet a target of bringing home 170,000 refugees from Namibia, Zambia, and various regions of the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo by the end of 2003.
A further 70,000 are set to return by the end of 2004, with oil-rich Angola bearing the brunt of the two-year programme's estimated $50 million cost.
De Riedmatten said the UNHCR would also try to bring the Democratic Republic of Congo -- itself divided by over four years of war -- and the smaller Republic of Congo into the deal.
De Riedmatten said the plan was the first formal agreement on the repatriation of Angola's refugees estimated to number around 450,000. Many were forced from their homes by the war such a long time ago that they are now settled and may not wish to return.
Others were waiting to see how the repatriation plans went.
The UNHCR says some 70,000 refugees may already have returned, but that many of those were just inside Angola's borders and were still suffering hardships.
"They didn't return thinking they were going to find a paradise -- rather that if they were going to suffer, they would rather suffer at home," de Riedmatten said.
He urged refugees wishing to return to wait for organised repatriation, due to start in May, and warned them the time was not yet right for a safe return.
"If they decide to go, they have to know about the dangers they could face," he said. "The great majority are saying that they want to come back."