Rebels said Saturday they retook Angola's second-largest city after two weeks of fighting.

A government military official denied the claim, made on rebel radio, and it was impossible to verify independently.The official, Deputy Chief of Staff Higino Carneiro, said many rebels were instead deserting Huambo, 330 miles southeast of Luanda.

But a spokesman, Jorge Valentim, said rebel delegates hoped to get transportation from Huambo to attend cease-fire talks with government representatives in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

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