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| Africa: Horn | |||
| Sudan crash cause is 'not clear' | |||
| 2005-08-05 | |||
The cause of the helicopter crash which killed veteran southern Sudanese leader John Garang is "not clear", Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has said. All previous official comments have insisted that the crash was an accident.
"Some people say accident, it may be an accident, it may be something else," he said in Yei, one of the southern towns where Mr Garang's body is being taken before the funeral on Saturday. "The [helicopter] was very well equipped, this was my [helicopter] the one I am flying all the time, I am not ruling anything out," Mr Museveni said.
Mr Garang died three weeks after being named vice-president as part of a deal to end 21 years of civil war. Hundreds of people - many in tears - have been turning out to see Mr Garang's coffin when the plane arrives in each town. In Juba, where the funeral is due to take place, thousands of volunteers are helping to build a mausoleum to house Mr Garang's remains, reports the AFP news agency.
Juba is recovering from communal clashes, sparked by Mr Garang's death. Northern Arab traders were attacked and their goods looted by angry southerners, leaving at least 19 dead. The town is reportedly running short of food. Mr Garang's widow and his children are accompanying the body from New Site, near where the helicopter crashed. "We have to keep his [Garang's] promise. We have to implement the peace agreement," Riak Machar, one of Mr Garang's former colleagues told the crowd in Kurmuk on Thursday. On Friday, the funeral procession goes to Yei, the one-time base of Mr Garang's rebel SPLA, Bor, where the rebellion started in 1983 and his birthplace of Panyagol near Bor, before reaching Juba. Mr Garang's successor as southern leader, Salva Kiir, has also been appointed as national vice-president. The capital, Khartoum, is reported to be calm, with no more of the clashes between southerners and Arabs sparked by Mr Garang's death. More than 130 people were killed in three days of violence. An overnight curfew has been imposed and heavily-armed police and soldiers are on patrol. A Sudanese minister has urged Muslim preachers not to further inflame tensions - most northerners are Muslims, while southerners are generally Christians or animists. The US has expressed deep concern over the situation. Its two envoys are due to meet President Omar al-Bashir. Leaders of both sides earlier urged calm, agreeing to set up a joint inquiry into what caused the crash of Mr Garang's helicopter. But correspondents say there is a real danger that a much-vaunted peace deal ending 21 years of civil war could be shattered by the sudden violence. "Enemies of peace may want to take the opportunity of the situation so that they don't allow the government and the SPLM to implement the peace agreement," Mr Kiir said. "We want this situation to be stopped as soon as possible so that security returns to Khartoum and its suburbs." | |||
| Posted by:Steve |
| #1 Likely a Newtonian Mechanic did the maintenance. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-08-05 11:41 |