LUANDA (Reuters) - African leaders were due to meet in Luanda on Wednesday to review widening wars in Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angolan state radio said. The radio quoted senior officials as saying Congo President Laurent Kabila, Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and President Sam Nujoma of Namibia would analyse the political and military situations in the two countries. Wars which threaten regional stability and economic growth pit the Angolan government against National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) rebels and Rwandan-backed Congolese rebels against the Kabila government. Diplomats told Reuters in Johannesburg the presidents would specifically look at the Angolan war, which has implications for the one in the Congo. There was no indication in Luanda or Johannesburg of any proposals that might be considered. Angola`s civil war, one of Africa`s longest running conflicts, is entering a more dangerous phase after reports that UNITA has advanced field guns, long-range anti-aircraft guns and helicopter gunships. War broke out in Angola before it gained independence from Portugal in 1975 and has continued sporadically ever since. A December government offensive against

UNITA quickly bogged down after UNITA counterattacked, grabbing huge tracts of land and putting government-held cities under siege. UNITA, one of Africa`s oldest guerrilla movements, has consolidated gains in the oil- and diamond-rich former Portuguese colony, forcing Luanda to launch a conscription drive to find fresh soldiers to fight. Angolan government battlefield losses have seen it recall some 7,000 infantry troops and air squadrons from the Congo sent last August to help Kabila against the Rwandan-backed rebels. Angola, Chad, Namibia and Zimbabwe have all sent troops, tanks and planes to bolster Kabila against the rebel threat. The Congolese rebels now control about 50 percent of the central African nation, which is potentially Africa`s richest. Analysts warn that further Angolan government losses could force Dos Santos to review his plans and dramatically alter the course of the Congo war.