Sudan “extremely disturbed” by Ugandan president’s comment
KHARTOUM, Aug 5, 2005 (Sudan Tribune) — The Sudanese government said today that it was extremely disturbed by the Ugandan president, Yoweri Museveni’s statement regarding the plane crash that killed the late first vice-president and Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) leader, John Garang, after his visit to Kampala.
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Salva Kiir, the new leader of SPLA/M, makes a point during a mourning for former rebel leader John Garang in Yei village in Southern Sudan August 5, 2005. The cause of a crash that killed Garang in the Ugandan presidential helicopter is unclear, Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni said on Friday on a trip to mourn his friend. (Reuters) |
Speaking to Sudan News Agency (SUNA), the minister of information and telecommunication, who is also the official government spokesman, Abd-al-Basit Sabdarat, said that the cause of the disturbance was that President Museveni was the one who informed the government that the plane was missing after more than 12 hours from its take off from Kampala and he also knew that the plane was Ugandan and the plane crew was also Ugandan, and it also departed from his country.
Sabdarat added that President Museveni also knew that the Sudanese government had set up a technical fact finding committee to investigate the plane crash and that the committee would begin its work after the deceased was buried on Saturday 6 August.
Sabdarat said that issuing statements or possibilities before the investigations were completed would only damage the investigations.
The government spokesman went on to say “We are making efforts to investigate the saddening incident and we have already started our investigations by setting up a technical committee and we hope that all parties, especially Uganda, would stop issuing statements which are not based on facts.”
Sabdarat said “We urge the Ugandan government to provide us with all the information that it can provide.”
He affirmed that the plane crash concerned Sudan the most as it lost its first vice-president of the republic, the deceased, Dr John Garang , whose death has deeply affected the country.