Sudan: More violence erupts
2005-08-02 19:35
Khartoum - Violence burst for a second day in the Sudanese capital on Tuesday after a morning of tense calm, a day after 36 people were killed in furious riots sparked by the death of Sudanese vice-president and former southern rebel leader John Garang in a helicopter crash.
In some neighbourhoods heavily populated by southerners on the outskirts of the city, outsiders were attacking people in the streets and raiding homes, said William Ezekiel, managing editor of the Khartoum Monitor. He said at least 36 people in southern Khartoum had been shot and killed.
"The Arabs are attacking them, entering their houses and looking for southerners," said Ezekiel, whose newspaper focuses largely on southern issues.
He said the northerners were breaking into houses and trying "to dismantle anything southern".
"It's a reaction to the reaction from yesterday," Ezekiel said. "Where is the government? Where are the police?"
Religious leader a victim of violence
A senior United Nations official in Khartoum said angry southerners from the displaced people's camps outside the capital were converging on the area of Omdurman. He said a Muslim imam had been killed.
"The situation is turning religious and that will be even more dangerous," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to the press.
The reports of deaths on Tuesday could not be independently confirmed.
The government renewed the 12-hour curfew of the night before, to begin at 18:00. By 15:30, downtown streets were already practically empty. An occasional siren could be heard.
Tuesday's violence and tension followed riots the day before, when grief-stricken supporters of Garang rampaged in Khartoum, burning cars and chasing people with stones, some accusing the government of killing Garang.
Officials said 36 people were killed and approximately 300 more injured in Monday's clashes. No information was available on how many of those killed were security forces and protesters.
- AP