YEI, Sudan: Ugandas
president said yesterday the helicopter crash that killed
Sudanese vice president John Garang may not have been an
accident, dropping a bombshell on thousands mourning the
death of the ex-rebel leader in south Sudan.
Some people say accident, it may be an
accident, it may be something else, President Yoweri
Museveni said, becoming the first official of any government
to publicly suggest Saturdays crash may have been the
result of foul play.
The (helicopter) was very well equipped,
this was my (helicopter) the one I am flying all the time, I
am not ruling anything out, he said, noting that an
international panel of experts had been appointed to look
into the crash.
Either the pilot panicked... either there
was some side wind or the instruments failed or there was an
external factor, Museveni told mourners in Yei where
Garangs body was brought ahead of his funeral in Juba
today.
His comments were met with stony silence
from the crowd, which had earlier greeted the arrival of
Garangs coffin with wailing, ululation and prayer.
Garangs successor as chief of the Sudan
Peoples Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), Salva Kiir,
declined to comment on the specifics of Musevenis remarks
but said the group was eager to hear the results of the
probe.
All options are open and cannot be ruled
out, Kiir told reporters after calling on mourners to
reject the violence that has engulfed parts of Sudan since
Garangs death and urging them to hold to their ex-leaders
vision for peace.
Let us follow the footsteps of our
leader, he told the crowd.
This is not the time for rioting, Kiir
said, blaming unspecified opponents of peace for wanting to
provoke a situation that would lead us back to war.
In Khartoum and Juba, senior SPLM/A
officials cautioned against making any assumptions about the
cause of the crash as did a diplomat in Bor, Garangs
birthplace where his coffin was brought after Yei.
We dont have anything to suggest it was
caused by sabotage, SPLM/A spokesman Pagan Amun said in
Khartoum.
In Juba, SPLM/A General Pieng Deng told
reporters that the flight data recorder from the helicopter
had been recovered at the crash site.
Up to now we believe it is an accident but
let the investigation end... as leaders, we cannot say
anything until the investigation is concluded.
In Bor, the diplomat said Musevenis
remarks on the eve of the funeral were unfortunate and noted
that the Ugandan leader is under personal pressure because
it was his own helicopter.
Garang and 13 others died when Musevenis
presidential Mi-172 helicopter went down in the mountains of
southern Sudan, sparking days of violence in Khartoum and
the south that saw 130 killed and hundreds wounded.
However, relative calm returned to the streets of
Khartoum yesterday as shop-owners reopened for business amid
a noticeably lower security presence. AFP
