Sudans vice president killed in helicopter crash

[Guest iain]

Sudan's Vice-President John Garang, a former rebel leader, has been killed in a crash, the government has said.

Mr Garang had been missing since Saturday, when contact was lost with his helicopter flying back from Uganda.

 

The BBC's Jonah Fisher says Mr Garang's importance in holding together southern Sudan cannot be overstated.

 

He was greeted as a peacemaker by more than a million people when he was sworn in three weeks ago as part of a deal ending a decades-long civil war.

 

His death will be a huge blow to the Sudanese people, our correspondent adds.

 

more at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4733571.stm

[Cowboy Ronnie 78]

Hmmm, not that we should be suspicious about this particular death or anything, but it does seem quite a strange turn of events that former rebel leader John Garang is killed just weeks after being appointed vice president (note: add "Sudanese VP" to list of professions most likely to end in death). Apparently he was flying in a presidential helicopter which unluckily crashed in bad weather. Riiightttt. Which got me to thinking: do the Sudanese army have the expertise to shoot down a specific helicopter? Only maybe. Would the pilot have crashed on purpose? Possible, alhtough according to this article Sudan has never produced a suicide bomber, so a suicide pilot seems dubious.

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200507/s1412631.htm

 

I say it was a bomb hidden on board. Not that we'll ever know one way or t'other.