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Country to bury Sudanese VP Garang on Aug. 6; killed in chopper crash
Tue Aug 2,12:56 PM ET
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - John Garang, Sudan's vice-president and a former rebel leader, will be buried at noon on Aug. 6 in Juba, the planned capital of the future autonomous government of the country's southern region, officials said Tuesday.
His body will first be taken to other key towns in southern Sudan to allow supporters to pay final respects before the state funeral in Juba, the biggest town in the region, said Yasir Arman, spokesman of the former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement.
Sudan's President Omar el-Bashir, regional leaders and international representatives will attend the funeral for Garang, who died Saturday along with 13 other people in a helicopter crash near the Sudanese-Ugandan border, Arman told The Associated Press.
Garang's body is lying at New Site, one of his former bases in southern Sudan.
Garang, from southern Sudan, became the country's first vice-president last month as part of the U.S.-backed peace deal that ended a two-decade-long civil war between his rebel force and the army of Sudan's Islamic-oriented government based in Khartoum.
The agreement spelled out power-and wealth-sharing with the rest of the country and provided for setting up an autonomous government for the south.
The former rebel movement has named Garang's longtime deputy, Salva Kiir Mayardit, to succeed him as head of the movement and president of the future autonomous government for south Sudan.
The rebel-armed wing confirmed Mayardit as the chairman of SPLM and commander-in-chief of its armed forces, Arman told The Associated Press.
Government representatives have begun talks with former rebel officials at New site on plans for swearing in Mayardit as Sudan's vice-president.
After Garang's death, the former rebel movement remains committed to the peace agreement, Arman said.
"The leadership decided to expedite the implementation of the agreement. What took place should add impetus to move forward toward peace. This was the wish of Dr. Garang, his commitment and conviction," Arman said.
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