ANGOLA: Is dos Santos the least bad option?

We reported earlier that Angola's President Jose Eduardo dos Santos - in power since 1979 - has said he would step down in two years.

But the question is: Will he?

The BBC's former Angola reporter Justin Pearce told Focus on Africa radio that he was in Angola's capital, Luanda, in 2001 when Mr dos Santos said he was going to stand down at the next election.

Justin said that at the moment "we aren't very close to having a credible successor".

"It's quite a well worn dos Santos strategy to hint that something might change but then when it comes to the crunch there isn't an acceptable alternative so dos Santos puts himself forward again as the least bad option."

BBC Africa