Britain’s Foreign Office is advising against independent travel to Angola for the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) warning of high levels of crime within the capital Luanda and describing conditions outside as “difficult and dangerous”.

“If you plan to visit Angola for the CAN, you should do so in the company of persons or organisations experienced in local conditions,” a statement on the Foreign Office website revealed this week. “There is widespread poverty, social exclusion and disease,” the posting said.

Referring to Angola’s long civil war that ended in 2002, the statement said there is “a shattered infrastructure and millions of mines and items of unexploded ordnance throughout many parts of the country”.

The 2010 CAN starts on January 10th and will be played at four new stadiums in Luanda, Cabinda, Benguela and Lubango—all near main urban centres.