Sudan to probe Garang's death

2005-08-03 15:12

Khartoum - Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir announced on Wednesday the formation of a joint committee with the late John Garang's Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) to investigate the cause of the southern leader's death in a helicopter crash.

This came after the leadership of John Garang's political movement called for an international investigation into the weekend helicopter crash in southern Sudan that killed their leader and 13 others, sparking two days of deadly clashes in the capital.

Pagan Amum, a leading member of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), said the group hoped the United Nations, Uganda, Kenya, the United States and Britain would take part in the probe, according to comments published in Wednesday's Sudan Vision newspapers.

The SPLM and the government have said they believe the crash was an accident due to poor weather. It was not clear whether the request for a probe was a change in that stance. - AP/AFP

- News24