US urges Sudanese govt to end violence

WASHINGTON, Aug 3 (AFP) — The United States urged the Sudanese government to step up efforts to halt a wave of violence that erupted after former rebel chief and Vice President John Garang died in a helicopter crash.

The widow of the late Sudan Vice-President, John Garang, Rebecca Nyandeng’ is embraced by the US special envoy to Sudan, Roger Winter at New-Site in Southern Sudan.(AFP).

Acting State Department spokesman Tom Casey said Washington was “deeply concerned” by the riots over the last three days that claimed more than 100 lives in the capital Khartoum and the southern town of Juba.

The Americans have been working hard to keep Garang’s death last Saturday from scuttling a fragile peace agreement signed in January to end two decades of civil war between Khartoum and southern rebels.

“We urge the government of national unity to continue to take steps to stop the violence, to promote reconciliation and to maintain momentum on implementation of the comprehensive peace agreement,” Casey said.

The government, he said, appeared to have boosted the deployment of security forces at flashpoints to stem clashes pitting Garang’s southern supporters against Muslim northerners.

Casey called on Khartoum to follow up with “additional steps that may be necessary to send a clear message to all the people of Sudan regarding its determination to halt the violence.”

But the US spokesman declined to put the blame for the bloodshed on either the government or Garang’s Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army, which chose his deputy Salva Kiir as its new leader.

“We do think that both the government and the SPLM leadership is acting responsibly,” Casey said. “We do not see any indication that any of the parties or any of the leadership are trying to incite violence.”

US officials acknowledge that Garang’s influence will be missed in efforts to consolidate the peace and end 30 months of bloodshed in the western region of Darfur that Washington has branded genocide.

To keep the peace process on track, Washington dispatched Connie Newman, assistant secretary of state for African affairs, and Roger Winter, special US representative for Sudan, to the region for talks with all parties.

They met Wednesday with Kiir in southern Sudan and were to travel Thursday to Khartoum for talks with government officials likely to include President Omar al-Beshir and perhaps Vice President Ali Osman Taha.

Although there has been no indication of any foul play in the helicopter crash that killed Garang and 13 others, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has said he would establish a three-member panel to investigate it.

Casey said the United States would respond to a request from Museveni and Kiir for technical help and dispatch experts from the National Transportation Safety Board to the crash site.