SPLM reactions to death of founder John Garang

Описание: (1 Aug 2005) SHOTLIST

1. Exterior of SPLM (Sudan People's Liberation Movement) head office
2. People gathered outside building
3. Set up of news conference
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Salva Kiir, Southern Sudan Vice President:
"South Sudan and indeed the whole (of) Sudan has lost its beloved son Dr. John Garang De Mabior. The first Vice President of the Republic of Sudan and the President of south Sudan was on an official visit to Uganda during the period from 29 to the 30th of July 2005, when the helicopter he was travelling in crashed near... south of New Kush, on his return last Saturday (30 July)."
5. Various of people listening to statement
6. Various of refugees outside building crying and hugging

STORYLINE

The vice president of southern Sudan gave his reaction to the death of former rebel leader and Sudan's Vice President, John Garang, at a news conference in Nairobi on Monday, calling him a "beloved son."

"South Sudan and indeed the whole of Sudan has lost its beloved son, Dr. John Garang," said Salva Kiir, who was also Garang's deputy in the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM).

Kiir also said he ordered the former rebel movement's leadership council to hold an emergency meeting.

He said the group will continue with Garang's policies and remain committed to the peace agreement.

Kiir has appealed to his fellow Sudanese to be calm and vigilant.

Nairobi has been the base for the southern liberation movement and is home to thousands of southern Sudanese.

Outside Kiir's office, Sudanese women began wailing and men silently sobbed.

John Garang, who led southern Sudanese rebels for 21 years in a war against the Khartoum government, died in an air crash, only weeks after being sworn in as the country's No. 2 leader in a power-sharing agreement that raised hopes of bringing a lasting peace.

The 60-year-old former rebel leader, who was sworn in as vice president just three weeks ago, left on a flight from Uganda for southern Sudan at 5:30 p.m. Ugandan time Saturday afternoon, Sudanese and Ugandan officials said.

It was not clear when the last contact with his craft took place.

Younger members of the SPLM, however, warned that if the circumstances of his death were not clearly explained, a new conflict could start in southern Sudan.

The charismatic Garang was seen as key to bringing southerners - a mixed population of Christians and animists - into a government long dominated by northern Muslims.

There is no other leader of Garang's stature in the former rebel movement, the Sudan People's Liberation Army, which he founded and dominated for 21 years.

His arrival in Khartoum on July 8 to take the vice president's post brought millions of southerners and northerners to the streets in celebration.

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