JUBA, Sudan, 7 August 2005 — Wailing in grief and shaking green leaves in a traditional symbol of morning, vast crowds of Sudanese paid last respects yesterday to former rebel leader John Garang who helped forge peace in Africa’s largest nation.
In chaotic and emotional scenes, tens of thousands packed the streets of Juba, capital of southern Sudan, as Garang’s body was paraded to a small cathedral for a service then burial.
Banners honoring Garang — who died in a helicopter crash last weekend just three weeks after being sworn in as Sudan’s vice-president — fluttered throughout the town.
“Garang will remain alive through his vision, thoughts and principles,” read one.
“Long live his struggle for the marginalized,” said another.
Garang’s death has stunned Africa, devastated his followers in the south of Sudan, triggered riots this week that left at least 130 dead, and fueled fears the January accord to end 21 years of north-south civil war may unravel.
After being flown round the vast southern region of bush and mountains so locals could pay homage, Garang’s corpse was taken to Juba for a memorial service then formal burial.
In a deliberate show of north-south unity, former fighters from Garang’s Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) joined Sudanese Army pallbearers to carry his coffin, draped in wreaths of pink, yellow and red flowers.
Garang’s old enemy then partner in the peace deal, Sudanese President Omar Hassan Bashir, stood in line to receive the coffin off a plane with South African President Thabo Mbeki and UN envoy Jan Pronk. A band played Auld Lang Syne.
Bashir yesterday vowed to publish “in all transparency” the results of a probe into the helicopter crash that claimed the life of southern leader Garang.
“While we believe in destiny, we think that it is necessary to carry out a careful inquiry into the circumstances of the helicopter accident,” Bashir told the tens of thousands of mourners gathered for Garang’s funeral.
“We leave the door open to all those who want to bring information on this subject and we have made contact with our brothers in Uganda with the sole aim of obtaining clear and transparent results which we will make public when they have been established,” he added.
On Friday, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who provided Garang with the helicopter, said it might not have been an accident.
During the procession to the church, women ululated and children held black flags aloft from bikes.
At the ceremony in a dirt courtyard outside, Garang’s widow Rebecca urged Sudanese to unite around the January deal, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, in honor of her husband.
“I will not miss my husband as long as you people of Sudan are the watchdog of the CPA. But if you people play around, this is the time I will cry for my husband,” she said.
Armed SPLA fighters and Sudanese government security forces lined the streets of Juba to keep order.
The majority of this week’s rioting between the mainly Arab northerners and the animist or Christian southerners was in the capital Khartoum, in the north. But some also died in Juba.
Garang’s death has raised fears the January accord, which set up a power-sharing government and allowed southerners to vote on independence in six years, may collapse.
“He was our beloved leader, our father. I fear we will go back to war without him,” said Martin Lual, an SPLA soldier.
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, leaders from around Africa, and US and European officials also gathered in Juba for the funeral.
Just seven months ago, many of the same officials were in Nairobi for the Jan. 9 signing of Sudan’s deal to end a war that killed two million people, most from starvation and disease.
Garang’s successor Salva Kiir has been quick to promise implementation of the peace accord.
Khartoum confirmed yesterday that Kiir would be sworn in to replace Garang as first vice president in the next two days.
