afrol News, 1 August - South Sudan's charismatic ex-rebel leader turned Vice-President died in a helicopter crash last night. "Bad weather" is said to be the cause. Today in Khartoum, riots have erupted, killing at least 24 persons as southerners attacked people "looking like Arabs". The government, the ex-rebel SPLA and the UN are all calling for calm to keep the peace process on track.
Sudan's newly appointed Vice-President John Garang de Mabior on Sunday night died in a helicopter crash as he was returning to Sudan from a meeting in Uganda with President Yoweri Museveni. The Mi-72-helicopter belonged to the Ugandan presidency and was reported missing after heading into a bad weather zone at the Ugandan-Sudanese border. There are so far no suspicions that the crash was caused by other causes than bad weather. Mr Garang's dead body has now been recovered.
Mr Garang has lead the southern Sudanese People's Liberation Movement and Army (SPLM/A) during the whole 21-year period of civil war in the vast country. Contrasting other SPLM/A leaders, Mr Garang could accept a solution where the south remained an autonomous part of Sudan. This position facilitated the north-south peace process, which was crowned with Mr Garang's ascendance to Sudan's Vice-Presidency earlier this year.
His death has caused immediate fears of a possible collapse of the still fragile north-south peace process. Ex-rebels of the SPLM/A today however have met to manage the "national crisis that has befallen us" and called for calm. The mourning SPLM/A leaders are expected to elect deputy leader Salva Kiir as the successor of Mr Garang as leader of the ex-rebels and as their representative in the Sudanese presidency.
The call for calm and order from the SPLM/A, the Khartoum government and international supporters of the Sudanese peace process were however not heard by shocked citizens. Reports from the Sudanese capital this afternoon indicate that the mood is far from calm.
Thousands of South Sudanese living in Khartoum today took to the streets to cry out their outrage. Most did not believe that Mr Garang's death had been caused by an accident. The crowd was reported to have attacked northerners "looking like Arabs", looting shops in the city centre and some shooting in the air. At least 24 persons have died in the riots and many more are reported wounded.
Sudanese authorities have responded to the sudden riot with a massive police presence. A curfew was announced this afternoon and the main bridge over the Nile River has been closed. Violence has however continued and the police only slowly is gaining control over the angry crowds.
The sudden death of Mr Garang also has caused international mourning and concern. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in a statement today said that the death was "a terrible loss for Sudan." Mr Annan told journalists that all indications as of now seem to indicate that Mr Garang's death was an accident, and that government and the UN were "working to try and sort things out." The Sudanese people "should remain calm, and I think it is essential that SPLM moves ahead very quickly to appoint a new leader," Mr Annan added.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today offered her condolences "on the tragic death" of Mr Garang. Calling Mr Garang "a man of great intellect and energy," Ms Rice said he had "applied those qualities to achieving a just peace for the people of Sudan. The US foreign policy leader urged all parties to the Sudanese conflict to "work toward Dr Garang's vision of a unified, prosperous, and peaceful Sudan."
There have also been concerns over the consequences Mr Garang's death may have to the north-south peace. The Brussels-based think-tank International Crisis Group (ICG) feared that today's rioting and looting "threaten to further destabilise the situation if not brought under control." Calm and tolerance needed to be promoted by all sides "to help salvage this dangerous moment," the ICG said, adding that the international community now must strongly support the SPLM/A at this critical time for it.
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