The Angolan government has hired a law firm to support the legal process of José Eduardo dos Santos' widow in her request in court to take custody of the body of the former President of Angola, who died on Friday in Barcelona.

The law firm will defend the interests of Ana Paula dos Santos, her children, and represent the Angolan government in matters involving diplomatic and institutional protection for José Eduardo dos Santos, who was neither a Spanish national nor a resident of Spain, a source close to the case told Lusa.

"It was a transitory condition for medical assistance purposes, so the executive is now dealing with institutional and diplomatic issues," the same source told Lusa.

This is the latest episode in the litigation involving the Angolan government and some of the children of José Eduardo dos Santos, concerning the delivery and transfer of the remains of the former president to Luanda, which is opposed by part of the family.

According to the source close to the process, a new meeting between the Angolan delegations and the family has been ruled out, since the sons would have 48 hours to respond to the executive's proposals, presented on Saturday at a family meeting in which the sons Tchizé dos Santos and José Filomeno dos Santos "Zenu" did not participate.

"The executive hired a law firm that is now conducting the process. There was a meeting on Saturday, there hasn't been and there won't be any more, the Angolan government has already presented its views, more than 72 hours have passed and there has been no response," said the same source.

It is now up to the courts to decide on the delivery and eventual transfer of José Eduardo dos Santos' body, which has eight children, from five wives, and is being disputed within the family.

On one side is Tchizé dos Santos and his older siblings, who reject to celebrate the funerals in Angola, where they have not been for several years, since their father's successor, João Lourenço, took office in 2017, starting a fight against corruption that has reached the eldest daughter, Isabel dos Santos, and son "Zenu."

On the other, there is the widow and mother of three of José Eduardo dos Santos' children, Ana Paula dos Santos, who had been away from her husband for some years, reappearing at his side in recent months, and who was the interlocutor of the Angolan government when he was hospitalized at the clinic in Barcelona, where he eventually died on Friday.

The Angolan government has stated that it wants to hold a state funeral in Luanda, but the decision is vehemently opposed by his daughter Tchizé dos Santos, saying that this was not her father's will, and that José Eduardo dos Santos did not want to be buried in Angola while João Lourenço is in power.

The judicial decision about the delivery of the body of the former Angolan President should be taken this week by the Spanish justice, after the result of the autopsy has already been communicated to the family.

The disagreements between the government and part of José Eduardo dos Santos' family took two Angolan delegations to Barcelona, one that includes members of the executive, including the Minister of State and Head of the Military House, Francisco Furtado, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Téte Antonio, and another linked to judicial entities, led by the Attorney General of the Republic.

It should be noted that José Eduardo dos Santos died on July 8, at the age of 79, in a clinic in Barcelona, Spain, after weeks of hospitalization and the Angolan government decreed seven days of national mourning.

Source: Lusa