Mbeki appeals for calm in Sudan

2005-08-01 17:04

Johannesburg - President Thabo Mbeki appealed on Monday for restraint in Sudan after the death of ex-rebel leader John Garang barely three weeks after he was appointed the country's No 2.

He said: "It is with great shock and sadness that the government and people of South Africa learned of the death of Dr John Garang de Mabior, the first vice-president of the republic of Sudan,".

"It is especially tragic that Dr Garang's death comes a mere three weeks after his inauguration on July 9 2005 as the first vice-president of the republic of the Sudan.

"South Africa would like to encourage the parties in Sudan to exercise restraint and remain committed to the implementation of the comprehensive peace agreement."

Unrest after the bad news

News of Garang's death sparked riots in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, with thousands of people, some wielding knives and guns, taking to the streets.

A news correspondent said several people were lying on the ground, some possibly dead.

Thousands of southerners, alleging the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum may have had a hand in Garang's death, also attacked shops and other businesses owned by northern Arab Sudanese in the main southern city of Juba.

Sudanese, Kenyan and Ugandan officials confirmed on Monday that Garang had died when the Ugandan helicopter in which he was travelling to southern Sudan crashed in a remote area of the region.

Two Ugandan officials said the crash happened on Saturday.

Garang, 60, head of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), became vice-president under a peace deal signed on January 9 that ended 21 years of conflict between north and south Sudan, Africa's longest-running civil war.

- AFP