Garang to be buried in southern Sudanese capital of Juba

Salva Kiir (L) past by the coffin of Garang in New Site village Aug 1, 2005. (Reuters) .

NEW SITE, Sudan, Aug 2 (AFP) — Sudanese ex-rebel leader John Garang is to be buried in Juba, the town he chose to be the capital of an autonomous southern Sudan, his Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) said Tuesday.

“The leadership has decided to move the body to Juba,” SPLM/A spokesman Pagan Amum told reporters in New Site, where Garang’s remains were brought immediately after it was recovered following a weekend helicopter crash.

“The funeral will be in Juba,” he said, adding that no date had been fixed for the ceremony but that it would be soon.

Amum’s comments came after the SPLM/A leadership held an emergency meeting here to nominate a replacement for Garang, who was killed in a helicopter crash Saturday just three weeks after being sworn-in first as Sudan’s vice president under a landmark January peace deal that ended 21 years of north-south civil war.

Garang’s long-time deputy, Salva Kiir, was chosen to take over responsibility of those duties and on Tuesday, two senior officials from the government in Khartoum made a brief visit here to pay their respects.

“We came to New Site to bring deep condolences to the (SPLM/A) leadership … for the tragic death,” said Ali Nfea, Sudan’s minister of federal affairs, stressing the government in Khartoum remained committed to the January agreement.

“We are here to say that we are going to work together with the leadership of the SPLM,” he told reporters after meeting with Kiir. “We are determined to work together in partnership with the SPLM … with the new leader of the SPLM.

“I found them united and determined more than anytime before to achieve the peace and implement the agreement,” Nfea said.

Under the terms of the agreement, southern Sudan, under Garang’s presidency, was to enjoy six years of autonomy after which it will hold a referendum on secession.

Juba, where Garang is to be interred, will be the capital of the autonomous region after Sudanese troops withdraw from the town and the provisional seat of the SPLM/A administration is moved there from Rumbek.