88, after years of warfare. The transition to independence finally started under a diplomatic agreement between South Africa, Angola and Cuba, with the USSR and the USA as observers. Under this, South Africa agreed to withdraw and demobilise its forces in Namibia. As a result, Cuba agreed to pull back its troops in southern Angola, who were sent to support the MPLA in its war for control of Angola against UNITA. Angola also resolved its civil war.A combined UN civilian and peace-keeping force called UNTAG (United Nations Transition Assistance Group), led by Finnish diplomat Martti Ahtisaari, was deployed from April 1989 to March 1990 to monitor the peace process and elections, and to supervise military withdrawals. As UNTAG began to deploy peacekeepers, military observers, police, and political workers, hostilities were briefly renewed on the day the transition process was supposed to begin. After a new round of negotiations, a second date was set, and the elections process began in e