World Notes ANGOLA

Joseph Longo, 33, a civilian American pilot, was turned over to a U.S. congressional delegation visiting Angola last week after he spent nearly ten weeks in captivity. Longo's Beechcraft Bonanza was forced down by an Angolan jet fighter last April over Namibia, where the plane was scheduled to be delivered. "The treatment got better as time went on," Longo said of his detention. When he arrived in the U.S., however, Longo cited "bad food, lice and lizards" as hardships that he endured.

Angolan officials described his release as a "goodwill gesture," presumably to smooth the way to the establishment of diplomatic relations with the U.S. That is a difficult goal, given the presence of 35,000 Cuban troops in Angola and the $15 million in military aid the U.S. provides to UNITA, a pro-Western rebel group trying to overthrow Angola's Marxist government.