CAF Condemns attack on togolese team.

LUANDA, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Saturday condemned on its website the attack against the Togolese soccer delegation convoy heading to Cabinda from Congo for the final-stage matches of the Cup of African Nations (CAN2010).
Justino Fernandes, Angolan Football Association president who is also the director general of the Local Organizing Committee, briefed the CAF Executive Committee on the incident which took place 10 kilometers within the Angolan territory on Friday.

Gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying Togo's national soccer team to Africa's most important tournament, killing the driver and wounding nine people, including two players, press reports said.

The bus had just entered the Angolan region of Cabinda, where separatists have waged a three-decade-long war, when it came under heavy gunfire for several minutes, an official with the Togolese soccer team Winny Dogbatse said.

A separatist group called the Front for the Liberation of Enclave of Cabinda claimed responsibility for the attack, but the claim was immediately rejected by Antonio Bento Bembe, Angola's minister in charge of affairs in Cabinda who said the separatist group no longer existed.

The minister condemned the attack on the Toglese team as an "act of terrorism" carried out by individuals who wanted to cause problems for the government.

abinda is a small oil-rich enclave in the very north of Angola, separated from the rest of the country by a strip of land belonging to Congo. Over half of Angola's oil is produced in Cabinda, but local people claimed the get few benefits from the oil produced on their lands.

Cabinda is one of the four Angolan cities of host the CAN2010 final stage matches.

An important delegation be headed by the Angolan minister on internal affairs, ministers of youth and sports, members from the prime minister's office as well as a powerful delegation from CAF is expected to arrive in Cabinda on Saturday to access the situation after the attack.

The Angolan Prime Minister will meet on Saturday CAF President Mr Issa Hayatou to take decisions to guarantee the smooth running of the CAN 2010 competition, which Angola hoped to stage as a national pride and a showcase of its socio-economic development after the civil war ended in 2002.