KHARTOUM, 9 July 2005 — At least a million supporters turned out yesterday to welcome former southern Sudanese rebel leader John Garang on his first visit to the capital in two decades following a January peace accord with the government, an AFP correspondent reported. Crowds chanted “No south without north! No north without south!” as Garang arrived in Khartoum for the first time in more than 22 years.
First Vice President Ali Osman Taha, whose job Garang is to take under the terms of the peace deal, led an official welcoming party of around 100 at the airport, an AFP correspondent reported. The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement’s leader was whisked straight off to the Khartoum headquarters of the ruling National Congress where he was welcomed by President Omar Bashir.
“It is a day of real peace,” said Bashir after the two men met briefly. “Welcome to Khartoum. Welcome among your people. You will find the hearts of all the people of Khartoum and Sudan open to you,” he added. Garang congratulated the Sudanese people and said: “It’s not my peace or the peace of Omar Bashir, but it is peace for all Sudanese people.
“Peace has come and it will extend to all parts of Sudan: north, south, east and west,” Garang said. The two shook hands and promised to work together for a better Sudan. A mass rally took place in one of Khartoum’s main public squares, as at least a million people packed the streets with many climbing trees or stood atop vehicles cheering, clapping and waving flags.
Posters of Garang and banners welcoming him to Khartoum had been put up on the capital’s streets. “Welcome Dr. John Garang,” read one. Below it was written “Social justice” and “freedom.”
State television had been running public announcements calling on the people to turn out in force for the former rebel leader’s rally. A series of events, including musical performances, have also been organized in his honor. The SPLM’s black, green, white and red-colored flag lined the streets from the airport to the Green Square on the edge of the capital. Public and private vehicles in the city also carried SPLM flags and Garang’s pictures.
Meanwhile, UN aid workers have halted attempts to register people who have fled their homes in Sudan’s conflict-torn Darfur region after violence in several camps, agency officials said yesterday. Trouble erupted in camps around El-Geneina in West Darfur, as staff from the World Food Program and the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees were drawing up lists of people due to receive food aid.
Groups of young men armed with sticks began attacking aid workers as people lined up to be registered yesterday morning in several camps, UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond said. “Some minor injuries have been reported as well as damage to vehicles,” Redmond told reporters.
