Angola and Guinea-Bissau have signed a bilateral defense agreement that includes Angolan training for Guinea-Bissau's troops, state media reported Friday.
"We wish to help Guinea-Bissau to have a powerful, united and disciplined army," said Angolan Defence Minister Candido Van-Dunem after the signing of the agreement, according to Jornal de Angola.
"The most important thing is that we apply this agreement effectively in terms of the training of Guinea-Bissau's soldiers," said Aristides da Silva, Guinea-Bissau's defence minister.
Da Silva said the small west African country's political situation is under control, after months of unrest including the arrest of the prime minister by renegade soldiers earlier this month and the March 2009 assassination of the president and armed forces chief.
The defence agreement follows a meeting last week in the Angolan capital, Luanda, between President Malam Bacai Sanha of Guinea-Bissau and Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos.
Sanha requested political, economic, diplomatic and military assistance from the oil-rich nation.
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