Was [Sudanese Vice President] Garang’s death an accident?

Middle East Online ^ | 2005 Aug 5 | Beatrice Debut

[Wiz]

Uganda's president said Friday the chopper 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 last Saturday's 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 southern Sudanese mourners in the town of Yei where Garang's body was brought ahead of his Saturday funeral in Juba.

"The inquiry will look at all possibilities," he said. His comments were met with stony silence from the crowd, which had earlier greeted the arrival of Garang's coffin with wailing, ululation and prayer.

Garang's successor as chief of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), Salva Kiir, declined to comment on the specifics of Museveni's remarks but said the group was eager to hear the results of the probe.

[Wiz]

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