By The Associated Press
The Associated Press
Monday, August 1, 2005; 3:51 PM
-- Political leaders killed in aircraft crashes in Africa:
July 30, 2005: The Sudanese government announced Vice President John Garang, a former rebel leader, died when the helicopter he was flying in crashed (?) into a mountain in southern Sudan in bad weather.
Jan. 24, 2003: Kenyan Labor Minister Ahmad Mohamed Khalif was killed when his aircraft crashed after veering off the airstrip during takeoff. The accident was blamed on human error and the poor condition of the runway.
April 16, 2001: Liberia's sports minister, Francois Massaquoi, was killed when dissidents opened fire on his helicopter during a mission to deliver humanitarian supplies to the northern town of Voinjama.
April 6, 1994: Presidents Juvenal Habyarimana of Rwanda and Cyprian Ntayamira of Burundi were killed when their plane was shot down near the airport in Kigali, Rwanda's capital. Habyarimana's death opened the doors to the Rwandan genocide in which more than 500,000 people were killed.
Oct. 19, 1986: President Samora Machel, leader of Mozambique since it achieved independence from Portugal in 1975, was killed when his Russian-made plane crashed a few hundred yards inside South Africa's border. Russian experts concluded the pilots were following a decoy signal, but South Africa's apartheid government denied using false navigation signals to lure the plane off course.
Sept. 18, 1961: United Nations Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold died when his plane crashed in Zambia while on a peace mission to the Congo. A Swedish government report said pilot error was to blame, although two former U.N. officials claimed gunfire from mercenaries caused the crash.
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Sources: Associated Press, United Nations.
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