Garang funeral procession brought forward

NEW SITE, Sudan, Aug 3 (AFP) — The ex-rebel movement of Sudan’s late vice president John Garang said Wednesday that the funeral procession for their deceased leader would begin on Thursday, 24 hours earlier than first planned.

Deputy leader of SPLM Salva Kiir (L) past by the coffin of John Garang in New Site village in Southern Sudan August 1, 2005. (Reuters) .

The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) said Garang’s body, which has been here since Monday when it was recovered from the wreckage of a crashed helicopter, would be transported through four southern Sudanese towns on Thursday for residents to pay their respects.

On Friday, the flag-draped coffin containing his body is to be brought to a fifth town before it is moved to Juba, the capital of the autonomous south that Garang fought for 21 years to win, for the funeral, SPLM/A spokesman Pagan Amum said.

The funeral cortege will move Thursday through the towns of Kurmuk, Kauda, Rumbek and Yei and on Friday to the town of Bor and then Juba where Amum said the SPLM/A expected no fewer than 500,000 mourners at Garang’s memorial service.

Security will be a priority for the funeral in Juba, which like Khartoum, was hit with deadly violence after Garang’s Saturday death in the chopper crash was confirmed on Monday.

At least 18 people were killed in clashes in Juba on Monday when thousands of southern Sudanese, convinced that Garang had been assassinated and was not the victim of an accident, rioted, directing much of their anger at northern Sudanese, an SPLM/A official and witnesses told AFP in the town.

“Security is the main concern,” said a UN diplomat here. “It should the top priority. If we lose control of the crowd, everything will go wrong.”

Amum told AFP that at least 1,000 SPLM/A fighters would be deployed to Juba, which has a population of about 300,000, for the funeral along with reinforcements from the Sudanese army.

“We are working closely with Khartoum,” he said.

As the SPLM/A announced the changes in plans for Garang’s funeral procession, residents of New Site expressed full confidence in the leadership of his successor, Salva Kiir but voiced doubts about Khartoum’s commitment to the peace deal.

“He should follow the footseps of Garang, they both worked together,” said Mayom Deng as he sat on the stoop of a tiny hut.

“We cried when we heard he was dead, but I believe our leader made a very good way to peace and I believe Salva Kiir is going to follow it,” said 29-year-old Arop Yuot who helped remove Garang’s body from the crash site.

“Those who follow him will carry his plan, but there is a ‘but’,” said Kezia Layinwa Nicodemus, an SPLM/A women’s rights activist. “Above all, we are doubting our opponents from the north.

“Now that (Garang) is not there, some people think that peace will not come without the person behind the peace agreement, the tree has been cut, you cannot find the shadow,” she said.