Sudan's
Vice-President John Garang, a former rebel leader, has been
killed in a crash, a UN official has said.
Mr Garang had been missing since Saturday, when contact was
lost with his helicopter flying back from Uganda.
The BBC's Jonah Fisher says Mr Garang's importance in holding
together southern Sudan cannot be overstated.
He was greeted as a peacemaker by more than a million people
when he was sworn in three weeks ago as part of a deal ending a
decades-long civil war.
His death will be a huge blow to the Sudanese people, our
correspondent adds.
On Sunday, state television had said he was missing, then
that he had landed safely at a military base in the south.
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![]() Garang left Kampala heading for the
New Sight camp in southern Sudan and contact was lost with
the plane ![]()
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But a later report said authorities were still trying to
locate his plane, lost between Uganda and southern Sudan.
Mr Garang left Uganda after talking with President Yoweri
Museveni about strengthening ties between the two countries.
Mr Garang's former rebel movement, which he steered through a
bloody 21-year civil war against the government in the north, is
said to have been holding a crisis meeting in Kenya.
The conflict in Sudan ended with the signing of a peace
agreement in January.
