08/03/2005
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The first evaluations. US President George. W. Bush has declared that he is sending two assistants of
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Sudan to ensure that the peace process
goes ahead. One to the capital and one to the South; Connie Newman, assistant
of the Secretary of State for “African Affairs” is on her way to Khartoum, while Special Envoy of the President Roger Wintern
is on his way to New Site. The ex-strong hold of the dead leader where, at this
moment, there is a prayer vigil around his Giuba flag covered coffin.
City diary. PeaceReporter contacted, as it did yesterday, some Italian humanitarian workers that work in
Sudan, and that are in the city at the moment. This is their account of the atmosphere
in Khartoum this morning. For reasons of security they have asked to remain anonymous.
Unknown. “The future remains unknown. It’s not known if the successor of Garang will be
recognised by everyone. In the South not everyone are friends and brothers. There
are lots of factions that don’t support each other. Garang was able to co-ordinate
everyone together in the good and the bad. Many questions remain unanswered at
the moment. Let’s say that this is something like the Israeli Palestinian agreement.
They have signed something, in order to get an agreement. Yet the agreement is
superficial. The important questions still have to be discussed. They are defining
the borders. Not only those between the South and North. Also those between different
tribes in the South. They have created a commission to define the borders, but
everything’s absolutely at sea. The first report of the commission has been accepted
by any party. There’s the petroleum to divide, there are areas where there is
probably petroleum but they still don’t know where.”
Immediate secession? “Here everyone is frightened. Today more than yesterday. Because what was greeted
by the international community as a fundamental agreement was, in substance, important
as a principle, but not anything concrete. Now there is no longer Garang, the
discussion of these questions could create huge problems: all the fundamental
points are still to be discussed. Added to this the Deputy, and successor of Garang,
Silva Kiir has always been a believer in the immediate secession
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The balance of the clashes now talks of 42 dead and 200 injured
Written for PeaceReporter
By Gianluca Ursini
By Gianluca Ursini
A hard new day for Khartoum. While it seems that the curfew imposed by the governor of the region worked
yesterday, today it looks like there’s going to be twelve hours of tension. The
sources of information that PeaceReporter has have told of the first clashes in refugee camps. Where in twenty years of
civil war people of all shades of colours have gathered together to seek refuge
from persecution against the Animist and Christian peoples of the South. There
has also been news of skirmishes and exchanges of gunfire. The main information
lines between Khartoum and the South of the country, where the attacks have been
and where there are numerous refugee camps, is a garrisoned area with heavy machine
guns mounted on the roofs of army trucks. Meanwhile in Mayo refugee camp people
opened fire on the nearby Mosque because the Imam refused to interrupt his daily
activities in order to respect the mourning of Garang.
The news as it stands at the moment is this: the deputy of John Garang De Mabior, Salva Kiir Mayardit, has accepted replacing the dead leader who died last Saturday, along the borders of Uganda and Southern Sudan, in a helicopter accident along with 13 other people. It is highly probable that he will also replace him in Government as Vice President alongside the Muslim Vice President, Ali Osman Taha. From both sides there has been a joint appeal to maintain the peace agreement (CPA, “Comprehensive Peace Agreement”). Salva Kiir has made it known to the militants that at the moment he is in “New Site” where the body of Garang is, and paying respects to his memory. Through the official site of the SPLM, Mayardit has promised that, “the leadership of the Movement will remain faithful to its objectives and to the vision of John Garang De Maboir.” On July the 9th the Southern leader became the first Christian Vice President of the country, respecting the peace agreement of the 9th January, and that put an end to 21 years of civil war; a conflict that has produced, according to estimates made by UNHCR, (the UN Agency for Refugees), one and a half million deaths and 4 million refugees.
The news as it stands at the moment is this: the deputy of John Garang De Mabior, Salva Kiir Mayardit, has accepted replacing the dead leader who died last Saturday, along the borders of Uganda and Southern Sudan, in a helicopter accident along with 13 other people. It is highly probable that he will also replace him in Government as Vice President alongside the Muslim Vice President, Ali Osman Taha. From both sides there has been a joint appeal to maintain the peace agreement (CPA, “Comprehensive Peace Agreement”). Salva Kiir has made it known to the militants that at the moment he is in “New Site” where the body of Garang is, and paying respects to his memory. Through the official site of the SPLM, Mayardit has promised that, “the leadership of the Movement will remain faithful to its objectives and to the vision of John Garang De Maboir.” On July the 9th the Southern leader became the first Christian Vice President of the country, respecting the peace agreement of the 9th January, and that put an end to 21 years of civil war; a conflict that has produced, according to estimates made by UNHCR, (the UN Agency for Refugees), one and a half million deaths and 4 million refugees.
The first evaluations. US President George. W. Bush has declared that he is sending two assistants of
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Sudan to ensure that the peace process
goes ahead. One to the capital and one to the South; Connie Newman, assistant
of the Secretary of State for “African Affairs” is on her way to Khartoum, while Special Envoy of the President Roger Wintern
is on his way to New Site. The ex-strong hold of the dead leader where, at this
moment, there is a prayer vigil around his Giuba flag covered coffin. Meanwhile there is the count of the first deaths, from the Reuters Foundation
through their web site Alert Net (www.alertnet.org). The agency “AFP” has reported a number of testimonies from witnesses that have
heard, from their houses, the sound of Kalashnikov gunfire from the army. The
hospital in Khartoum has said they have dealt with a hundred injuries and have
counted only four official deaths from yesterday’s unrest following the announcement
of Garang’s death. Yet according to the police the deaths are 36.The Ugandan President
Yoweri Museveni, who met with Garang on an Official State Visit on Saturday has
ordered the creation of an Inquiry Commission in order to ascertain that it was
an accident “and not an attack or a conspiracy. “Something, which in certain respects,
doesn’t really help the atmosphere of mourning that the Khartoum Government has
initiated. It has called citizens to respect three days of national mourning.
For President Museveni has gone, “one of the greatest revolutionary and nationalist
leaders that Africa has ever had in its history.”
City diary. PeaceReporter contacted, as it did yesterday, some Italian humanitarian workers that work in
Sudan, and that are in the city at the moment. This is their account of the atmosphere
in Khartoum this morning. For reasons of security they have asked to remain anonymous.“We took a trip around the city. From what we saw there weren’t any great disasters
last night. There was a curfew, and here they don’t joke, if anyone moves during
a curfew the police shoot. However, we weren't in the area that was really affected
by looters yesterday. The city is now very peaceful, public transport has started
again but it’s semi-deserted. In order to be sure that everything is peaceful
we’ll have to wait until late morning. The people living in the refugee camps
take about an hour to get to the city centre. Now the police are lined up with
vans and machine guns. It seems to me that it would be difficult for anyone to
group together…At the moment the situation seems to be under control. The Government
has already made an agreement with the “SPLM” that has nominated, as predicted,
the successor of Garang, his deputy Silva Kiir. To resolve this problem things
might be fine.”
“However, yesterday evening one of our guards arrived, he lives in Ondurman,
a zone 18kms from here. He told us that the scenario there was one of huge devastation.
Shops destroyed, cars burnt out, dead bodies left on the streets having been killed
by the police. You don’t hear “vox populi” (common voices) about the cause of
the crash of Garang’s helicopter. They continue to say that it was due to a sand
storm. Also those in the Southern “Movement” say that they believe the government’s
version. Likewise, they could have said that they didn’t believe the official
version, then the situation could have become uncontrollable for everyone, even
for the heads of the “SPLM””.
Unknown. “The future remains unknown. It’s not known if the successor of Garang will be
recognised by everyone. In the South not everyone are friends and brothers. There
are lots of factions that don’t support each other. Garang was able to co-ordinate
everyone together in the good and the bad. Many questions remain unanswered at
the moment. Let’s say that this is something like the Israeli Palestinian agreement.
They have signed something, in order to get an agreement. Yet the agreement is
superficial. The important questions still have to be discussed. They are defining
the borders. Not only those between the South and North. Also those between different
tribes in the South. They have created a commission to define the borders, but
everything’s absolutely at sea. The first report of the commission has been accepted
by any party. There’s the petroleum to divide, there are areas where there is
probably petroleum but they still don’t know where.”Immediate secession? “Here everyone is frightened. Today more than yesterday. Because what was greeted
by the international community as a fundamental agreement was, in substance, important
as a principle, but not anything concrete. Now there is no longer Garang, the
discussion of these questions could create huge problems: all the fundamental
points are still to be discussed. Added to this the Deputy, and successor of Garang,
Silva Kiir has always been a believer in the immediate secession
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