LUANDA, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Putting a picture of Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos on new national identification cards is 'outrageous' and contrary to the principles of democracy, a human rights group said on Thursday.

The ID cards being distributed this month carry the usual information about the holder on one side while on the back there is an image of dos Santos and of Angola's first president, Agostinho Neto.

The government said the presidential images were simply meant to protect the cardholder from fraud.

But for Antonio Ventura, director of the Luanda-based Association for Justice, Peace and Democracy, the image of a president who has been in power for 30 years and is expected to run in future presidential elections is unwelcome and offensive.

'It's outrageous,' said Ventura. 'The new ID should only include the picture of the person to whom it belongs. These images are unlawful and violate the principles of democracy.'

A senior official at the Ministry of Justice said Angolan law allows images to be used on the back of an ID card, but admitted it had failed to inform parliament, which approved the cards, of the type of images to be used.

'These images do not violate the law because they are used to guarantee the document's protection,' said Hirondino Muchiri from the Ministry of Justice.

Dos Santos' ruling MPLA party won over 82 percent of the vote in Angola's parliamentary elections in 2008, the first in sixteen years. He is widely expected to win a presidential election now expected to be held in 2012.

(Reporting by Henrique Almeida; Editing by Giles Elgood) Keywords: ANGOLA ID/

(Reuters messaging: henrique.almeida.reuters.com@reuters.net; email:henrique.almeida@reuters.com; tel 244 912 304 020)

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