NEWS: Vice President Of Sudan Dies In Helicopter Crash

A helicopter crash has claimed the life of newly appointed Vice President of Sudan John Garang, an ex rebel leader who was instrumental in the implication of a peace deal which ended 21 years of civil war in Sudan. He had been sworn in on July 9th and was travelling back from Uganda to Sudan when the crash occured.



So far reports are that the helicopter crashed in bad weather but it is believed a United nations helicopter landed and was assisting in the search.

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[edit on 31-7-2005 by Mayet]

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A [former] Rebel leader that had to be included in Khartoum's government has died.
This is certainly is convenient for the Old Guard government.

Not choosing to cast any aspersions, but this certainly merits closer scrutiny.

Just like the supposed Janjawid that attacked Villages in Western Darfur, all to Khartoum's, dismay. [Neglecting the fact that government helicopters fired on the same villages that were attacked.
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I can't imagine the opposition party will accept this very gracefully--they just got their man in recently.

Events are begining to unfold along past lines. Rioting has started and I expect it will get worse.

whose helicopter and pilot was it?

Would be an interesting spin if it was a UN owned bird so conveniently taking out the moderating force in yet another corrupt African government.

Don't know whose chopper it was, but you're right, if it turned out to be a U.N. bird that sure could raise suspicions. Mayby Bolton could turn out to be a good pick.

It was the Ugandan Presidential Helicopter- an Mi-72 I believe. The Ugandans are friendly to the Southern Sudanese and have been accussed of supporting the SPLA, so I doubt that they were behind it. Possibly shot down or sabotaged by the North.

There will be a referendum on secession of the newly autonomous Southern Sudan in a few years, which is very very bad for the Muslim North. My guess is that the government or factions within it hoped to cause fighting between the groups that Garang united and cause autonomy to be a disaster, thus staving off secession.

Edit for spelling

[edit on 1-8-2005 by The Vagabond]

The unexpected death of Garang, a towering rebel commander who became Sudan's vice president just three weeks ago, plunged into the unknown a peace process that had been moving tentatively forward.

Riots broke out in Khartoum, the capital, as suspicious southerners accused the northern government that Garang had long attempted to topple of orchestrating his death. "Murderers! Murderers!" demonstrators cried as they burned cars and threw stones.

www.iht.com...

I wish I'd been paying closer attention- I might have seen something like this coming. I started a thread on Sudan not long ago in the military subjects forum of PTS (link below).

Just for conspiracy sake, what if somebody friendly to the South actually did to this to ensure and perhaps hasten secession? It was a Ugandan aircraft, and afterall, the Blue Nile province is not part of the autonomous South and likely would have been lost under the current deal, but it's hydroelectric facilities supply HALF of Sudan's total energy and are being expanded to generate more. As I note in the thread linked below, that energy is important- it's the road to industrialization for Ethiopia and a few nations further south where power and the means for generating it are a little more scarce, especially during times of drought.

politics.abovetopsecret.com...

Edit to add: How much do you want to bet that a flare-up of violence after this leads to the emplacement of UN troops and ultimately works out quite favorably for the South?

[edit on 1-8-2005 by The Vagabond]

The United States has sent two senior envoys to Sudan where a state of emergency has been declared after the death of the vice-president.

The two envoys have been rushed to Sudan after deadly riots that are believed to have killed at least three dozen people.

Connie Newman, assistant secretary of state for African affairs, and Roger Winter, special representative for Sudan, left for talks with officials in Khartoum and the country's south, the State Department said.
www.abc.net.au...

You Know, you just may be correct there.....