BBC News reports that John Garang, former leader of the rebels in the southern part of Sudan, is missing after his helicopter failed to return from Uganda. Garang's Sudan People's Liberation Movement recently concluded a peace treaty with the government in Khartoum that appointed Garang vice-president. Sudanese television had earlier reported that he had landed safely.
I cannot help but think of the plane crash that killed Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana, which sparked the genocide there. I worry that if Garang's helicopter has crashed, suspicions that Khartoum was behind it, might derail the peace. The Washington Post had a good article today about the hopes of the people in southern Sudan for stability and development as a result of the new peace.
Update: The BBC reports that he is dead.
Mr Garang's former rebel movement, the Sudan People's Liberation Army, is said to have held a crisis meeting in Nairobi when news of a possible crash began to spread.
It is still difficult to point a finger at some one. Dr. Garang's death must properly be investigated. He boarded a ugandan helicopter, but not a sudanese government plane. How can a sudanese government not afford to offer him a jet? It seems this is a planned mission. Who knows the planner thought Garang would become the President of the Southern sudan, but not for the whole country. The planner might have discussed some deals with Garang and has discovered that he is not going to get what he has been promised by Garang during the struggle. Let 's see the death of laurent Kabila. He failed to deliver what he had promised to the three nations as a gift for their participation. My advice to Salva kiri is to see SPLA/M as a movement for all sudanese, but not for Dinka, Nuer and siluk. Finally we should know that many countries supported this movement and lost many of their armies and needed compensation from the SPLA/M, but were not given anything. The major problem are the empty promises of oil and othernatural resources.