JUBA, Sudan - Thousands of Sudanese government troops and ex-rebel fighters deployed here Saturday ahead of the funeral of Sudanâs vice president and former southern guerrilla leader John Garang. As residents of Juba prepared a massive send-off for Garang, two planeloads of Sudanese soldiers, including members of the elite presidential guard, landed at Juba airport on Friday and were immediately deployed around town. Heavily armed troops with rocket-propelled grenade launchers and assault rifles were positioned at 10-meter intervals on the streets of Juba, which was rocked by deadly violence after Garangâs death, an AFP correspondent said. Those soldiers joined fighters from Garangâs ex-rebel Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) who entered Juba for the first time on Wednesday to help quell the violence and provide security for the funeral.
Half a million people, including Sudanese President Omar el-Beshir, South African President Thabo Mbeki, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni are expected to attend the service. Officials from the African Union and the United Nations were also expected.
Garang was killed on July 30 when Museveniâs presidential helicopter on which he was returning to southern Sudan from Uganda crashed in what Sudanese, Ugandan and SPLM/A officials had repeatedly said was an accident due to poor weather. But on Friday, Museveni said it may not have been an accident, becoming the first official of any government to publicly suggest the crash may have been the result of foul play. âSome people say accident, it may be an accident, it may be something else,â Museveni told thousands of mourners in the southern Sudanese town of Yei where Garangâs coffin had been brought in an airborne funeral procession to Juba. âThe (helicopter) was very well equipped, this was my (helicopter) the one I am flying all the time, I am not ruling anything out,â he said, adding that an unspecified âexternal factorâ could have been responsible.
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Salva Kiir, Garangâs successor as SPLM/A chief declined to comment on the specifics of Museveniâs remarks but said no cause had been ruled out pending an international investigation of the crash. But in Khartoum and Juba, senior SPLM/A officials cautioned against making any assumptions about the cause of the crash as did a diplomat in Bor, Garangâs birthplace where his coffin was brought after Yei.
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Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail meanwhile called on Uganda to cooperate with the investigation into the crash. â(Garangâs) visit was to Uganda and the aircraft and its crew were Ugandan,â Ismail told the official SUNA news agency. However he expressed displeasure that the Ugandan authorities only informed Sudan about the disappearance of Garangâs helicopter several hours after they found out. Sudanese Information Minister Abdul Basit Sebdarat went further still, calling Museveniâs comments âextremely worryingâ. âUttering statements or speculations ahead of the investigation would harm the probe and the chances of finding the facts, the official SUNA news agency quoted Sebdarat as saying. |
Sudan dismissed yesterday as âunfoundedâ claims by rebels that it carried out an aerial bombing campaign in eastern Red Sea state that resulted in many civilian casualties.