Sudan: Riot death toll rises

2005-08-04 13:53

Khartoum - The death toll in Sudan after three days of unrest following the death of Sudanese Vice-President John Garang in a helicopter crash rose to 130 on Thursday.

In the Sudanese capital Khartoum alone 111 people were killed, Red Crescent officer-in-charge John Lobore said, with further deaths reported in Yuba and Malakal in the south of the country.

The situation in the capital was relatively calm on Thursday morning as large numbers of security-force troops patrolled the streets.

Flying under risky conditions

The Sudan Tribune newspaper reported that the helicopter in which Garang and 13 others died had not fulfilled the necessary safety requirements.

The helicopter should not have flown, and the weather conditions had not been properly checked, the newspaper reported citing a Ugandan journalist.

Rumours of a possible deliberate attack caused massive protests across Sudan.

An expert commission, supported by help from the United Nations, is to investigate the cause of the helicopter crash that killed Garang on Saturday.

Many southern Sudanese do not believe the official announcement that the helicopter crash was caused by bad weather.

Serious unrest

In Yuba the south of the country, preparations were underway for the funeral this Saturday of the long-time rebel leader.

Supplies were very limited in the town as there was serious unrest following Garang's death and the market had been burnt down, one aid organisation worker said.

A large number of African heads of state were expected for the funeral, according to Garang's former rebel group the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM).

A peace deal sealed in January gives southern Sudan nearly half of the country's oil revenue and more political representation. It also gives the mainly Christian, African south the right to secede from the mostly Muslim, Arab north after a six-year interim period.

It is this last piece of the deal that worries many in the north, including President Omar al-Bashir, and where the visions of Garang and his successor Salva Kiir Mayardit diverged. Garang supported a unified Sudan; Salva Kiir does not.

Salva Kiir has called on his followers to stay calm and said the peace agreement will continue to be implemented. - Sapa-dpa

- SAPA