Sudanese unity govt to be delayed after Garang death

KHARTOUM, Aug 5 (AFP) — The formation of Sudan’s national unity government — a key plank of a landmark peace accord — is likely to be delayed following the death of former southern rebel leader John Garang, an official said Friday.

Sudanese President Omer al Bashir (center) holds hands with John Garang (right) and Ali Osman Taha (left) in Khartoum, Sudan, Saturday, July 9, 2005. (AFP).

“A unity government will be formed… but it’s simply impractical to form a new government by the August 9 target date,” the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Garang’s successor Salva Kiir will be sworn as first vice president following the funeral Saturday of the late leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), although a date has not been fixed, the official added.

Garang died in a helicopter crash on Saturday less than a month after being sworn in as first vice president under the January 9 peace deal that ended two decades of civil war in Sudan.

The official said that following the swearing in of Kiir, Garang’s successor of the leader of the SPLM/A, consultations “will be held at the presidency with a view to forming a national unity government.”

The presidency includes President Omar el-Beshir, Second Vice President Osman Ali Taha and Kiir, who was appointed first vice president and head of the autonomous administration for southern Sudan on Thursday.

Riots between mainly Christian and animist southerners and Muslim northerns that have rocked Sudan since Garang’s death have exacerbated fears for the future unity of Africa’s largest country.

Northern and southern commentators alike voiced fears that the violence would unravel the landmark accord which ended the north-south war that killed an estimated two million people in Africa’s longest-running conflict.

Under the January agreement, August 9 marks the end of a six-month period after which an official six-year-transition interim period starts and the south begins running its own affairs.

The cornerstone of the accord is a protocol exempting the south from Sharia (Islamic) law and granting it six years of self-rule after which it will vote in a referendum on whether to remain part of Sudan or secede.

Under a power-sharing protocol, the SPLM/A and the current government in Khartoum will form a government of national unity with a decentralised system of administration. The SPLM/A will also set up a separate semi-autonomous administration in the south.