New SPLM chief urges end to violence in Khartoum

NEW SITE, Sudan, Aug 3 (AFP) — The new chief of southern Sudan’s ex-rebel group on Wednesday appealed for an end to the deadly violence that has wracked Khartoum and its suburbs since the weekend death of his predecessor John Garang.

Salva Kiir, who replaced Garang as head of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) on Monday, said rioting in the capital threatened a landmark January peace deal that ended 21 years of north-south civil war.

“We want this situation to be stopped as soon as possible so that security returns to Khartoum and its suburbs,” he said