NEWSMAKER-Angola's Dos Santos keeps succession open

* Africa's No 2 oil producer to hold elections in September

* Powerful president keeps re-election bid option open

* Youth protests have targeted corruption, mismanagement

By Shrikesh Laxmidas

LISBON, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Long-serving Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos is keeping his country and the world guessing about whether he will bid for re-election in 2012 in Africa's No. 2 oil producer.

Apparently unfazed by unprecedented youth protests against his rule last year inspired by the Arab Spring uprisings, the soft-spoken 69-year-old leader has promised that elections due in September will be transparent and fair, while keeping his own options open.

Dos Santos' mild, inscrutable public demeanour belies his more than 32 years firmly at Angola's helm, a rule eclipsed in Africa only by Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.

Speculation over Dos Santos' intentions - under the country's new 2010 constitution he could remain in power until 2022 - has reached fever pitch among analysts, investors and oil companies watching one of Africa's fastest-growing economies.

"Dos Santos' succession is the single biggest question hanging over Angola," said Alex Vines, an Angola expert and analyst with UK-based think-tank Chatham House. ? Continued...

Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/AfricaAngolaNews/~3/7eaKxhrJlxo/idAFL6E8C20LA20120102

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