that at least 24 people died in riots sparked by the death of John Garang, who led Sudan’s southern rebels for two decades before making peace and joining the government he fought."
We saw black, black smoke rising from the city centre," said one witness in the capital Khartoum where the clashes broke out, in a statement released by UK-based Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) to BosNewsLife News Center.
"Supporters of the late Dr. John Garang [are] smashing every thing moving on the roads. The city streets are completely empty. … I do not know how long that will continue, as supporters are mobilizing from outskirts to converge on the center. Unconfirmed reports say Omdurman is the most affected. … I believe this will not be the end of story. God knows how it will end."
Reuters news agency quoted two police officers as saying that 24 people, including police, were killed in the rioting. "They (southerners) are beating anybody they see who looks like they are Arab," Swayd Abdullah, a student, told Reuters. "People have been running all over the streets. The policemen are taking people from the streets. There is fire and smoke," a Reuters TV witness added.
HELICOPTER CRASH
The violence broke out just hours after the people of Sudan learned that Garang, who became the country’s first vice president July 9, had died at the weekend after the presidential helicopter crashed. It apparently went down in bad weather, although there were also reports it had run out of fuel.
The helicopter crashed near the remote mountainous border region between Sudan and Uganda, with conflicting reports as to which side it fell on. Reuters news agency quoted officials as saying that 6 of Garang’s companions and a crew of seven also died in the crash, though a member of the southern Sudan leadership council reportedly said that 17 bodies were recovered.
DISCORD FEARS
With violence already starting, CSW said it was praying that "the [National Islamic Front] NIF regime does not use this tragedy as an opportunity to sow discord in southern ranks and that it cooperates fully in implementing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA)", signed in January.
The ruling regime is a mixture of military elite and an Islamist party that came to power in a 1989 coup, which has been accused of supporting anti-Christian militants and suppressing churches.
Washington-based International Christian Concern (ICC), another human rights group with close contacts in the region, warned that "the death of Mr. Garang is a great tragedy" in the move towards more Christian freedom and peace between the mainly Christian south and the predominantly Muslim north of the country.
"TERRIBLE BLOW"
"Garang’s death is a terrible blow for a people traumatized by 21 years of war, and comes just as they were daring to hope for peace," added CSW. It said it was also a blow for Garang’s widow, Rebecca, and the rest of his family.
His former rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) was moving quickly however to fill the vacuum and named Garang’s deputy Salva Kiir as his successor on Monday evening, news reports said. In a reported statement the party said it expected him to be sworn in as Sudan’s first vice president in two weeks.
The United States said it dispatched two top diplomats to encourage a smooth transition in the southern leadership and ensure the country’s peace process continued. "The United States is determined to maintain our commitment to the peace process in Sudan," President George W. Bush said, hailing Garang as a "visionary leader and peacemaker".
WORST RIOTING
Yet the rioting, some of the worst in the Sudanese capital in recent years, threatened his vision, Christian groups and others suggested. Kartoum’s governor announced a curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. (1500 UTC to 0300 UTC) in the capital.
Members of the SPLM and the government in Khartoum — bitter enemies during the 21-year conflict — both promised to maintain the power-sharing peace agreement Garang helped bring about. "We are confident that the peace agreement will proceed as it was planned," Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir reportedly said.
Christians are estimated to comprise about 5 percent of the African country’s over 39 million people, and rebels fought for more rights for them. (With BosNewsLife Research and reports from Sudan, and the United States).
