Garang’s death leaves hole
By WILLIAM M. REILLY
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 01, 2005 (UPI) — The death this past weekend in a helicopter crash of John Garang, Sudan’s first vice president for only three weeks but long-time leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, could hardly be more untimely.
Rioting in the capital, Khartoum, after his death was announced Monday was an indication of his stature. A big man, in more ways than one, his demise was a great loss to the huge nation in the northeast of Africa.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan knew him well and found it hard Monday to speak of Garang as dead.
“He is larger than life, rather charismatic, and who believed in his mission with all his being,” said Annan. “He lived and fought for his dream.
“Just as he was on the verge of it, he lost his life,” the secretary-general told reporters at U.N. World Headquarters in New York. “I remember vividly on July 9 in Khartoum, when he stood there and said, “Sudan will never be the same. Not only Sudan will never be the same, 6 million people came to Khartoum to welcome me; 6 million people have voted with their feet for peace, and we cannot let them down.
“‘Let’s move ahead with the peace process in the north, in the south, in the west and in the east,'” Annan concluded quoting Garang.
The secretary-general then expressed the hope, “that spirit, that legacy, from Garang, will stay with all the people of Sudan … they should make peace irreversible in Sudan and work to bring stability to this troubled land.”
Annan said Garang had fought for a united Sudan, not for an independent south, where his rebel movement was based.
The secretary-general said, “What is important is that the Sudanese continue with the process of reconciliation and the process of peace.”
He said it was up to the SPLM “to arrange a succession, and I hope that will go smoothly. It is essential that the movement holds together and joins the government in Khartoum.”
Garang’s inauguration marked the end of decades of fighting in southern Sudan by his movement, during which he insisted his fight was for all of Sudan. He sought proper representation for the Africans majority.
“Garang has left a legacy of peace, and we hope that the Comprehensive Peace Agreement which he negotiated and signed can still take root in Sudan,” said the International Crisis group in a statement released at its headquarters in Brussels. “The SPLM and the government of Sudan must continue their efforts to implement the agreement in order to fulfill his vision for peace and end the cycle of violent conflict.
“The rioting and looting that have followed the announcement of Garang’s death threaten to further destabilize the situation if not brought under control,” the statement continued. “Calm and tolerance must now be promoted by all sides to help salvage this dangerous moment. The international community must continue to strongly support the peace agreement and help the SPLM at this critical time for it.”
The leadership in the SPLM has called for a meeting to choose a successor.
“The No. 2 in the SPLM leadership, and vice president of the government in the south, Salva Kiir, is the most obvious person to take on leadership of the SPLM and become first vice president for all of Sudan,” said Haile Menkerios, director of the Africa Division of the U.N. Department of Political Affairs.
“However, there are other long-serving and high-standing members of the SPLM leadership,” he added, declining to speculate on who might emerge as Garang’s replacement. “Let’s wait for the emergency congress.”
Annan said he spoke by telephone Monday with Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir who assured him the government was “going to move forward with the peace process.”
The secretary-general also said Bashir promised to “work very, very closely with the leaders of SPLM to move the process forward.”
Annan said the world organization already was helping in the present crisis a nation beleaguered for years in the south by the SPLM and for the last two years in westernmost Darfur by clashes among government-backed militia and rebel groups, which have led to the displacement of about 2 million people and death estimates ranging from scores of thousands to hundreds of thousands more.
“We’ve been working with them ever since the crash,” he said of cooperation since Garang’s helicopter was reported missing on a flight from northern Uganda to southern Sudan. “It is our plane that is taking the body to New City, and also retrieving the other bodies. So we are on the ground, very actively working with them.
“We have made it clear that we will give them all the support necessary, both in the political process and in our efforts to contain the humanitarian situation and settle the process in Darfur, the secretary-general said.”I gained the impression that they are determined to proceed, and there is the same sentiment on the SPLM side. So there is good hope — I have good hope — that this will hold together. And we should all do whatever we can to ensure that it doesn’t unravel.”