Tension reported in garrison town in southern Sudan

Text of report in English by independent USAID-funded Sudan Radio Service on 24 August

Aug 24, 2005 (Khartoum) — [Presenter] Juba: Tension is reported at the garrison town of Lafon in Eastern Equatoria following the murder of an aid worker.

The coordinator of Help Age International in Juba, Charles Lumori, confirmed that one of their Sudanese staff, named John Onamo, at Lafon, was killed and his head chopped off, but the killer or killers are unknown.

[Lumori] He was killed and died on the spot. Up to now we do not know the person who killed. We were told that he was shot and died on the spot and his head chopped off the head. He is John Onamo. What we did first of all, we have stopped activities on the ground.

[Presenter] Sudan Radio Service correspondent in Juba says that the murder of the aid worker has sparked tensions between the local population and government troops, prompting the evacuation of a police detachment in the area.

With reports of mounting insecurity in the area, a high level delegation from Juba comprising the deputy police commissioner, the Sudan armed forces military intelligence operations officer, an SPLM representative, the acting UN area security coordinator, and others tried to visit Lafon, but the plane could not land because the airstrip was flooded with rain water.